A Broken Girl
by NeoMulder
Summary: Ember Matthews never thought she could be loved. Didn't think she could ever deserve it. For most of her life, she'd believed that she wasn't worth it. But what happens when she meets the vampire who's saved her more times than he knows? Can she make him see his true self? Will she find happiness and love or will her past forever follow her around, waiting like a snake to strike?
1. Strange Beginnings

**Hey guys! So first, I want to let you know that I'm not dropping any of my stories. I'm still working on the others, especially my Doctor Who fic. Anyhow, so I've been working on this fic for a while now and wanted to know what you guys think. It might seem a bit strange with the way she merges into the universe and all, but I promise it will be explained. I'm already working on chapter 9. So please just read this and let me know what you guys think! Thanks!**

Whoever had said that it was a bad idea to walk home in the dark using the back alleys where there was no one in sight was definitely a genius. Ember Matthews, on the other hand, obviously was not because there she was walking through a dark, wet, alley on her way home. She knew it wasn't safe, but at the same time she knew that most things never were. Not for her anyways.

She was used to being on edge, whether it was out on the street or in her own home. It didn't matter. She lived on the bad side of town, something she was sure was intentional on Mark's part. And when she wasn't there, she was at home either cleaning, doing homework, laying around or being beat senseless. Sadly, it was normal for her now. She could barely remember a time when she wasn't living in fear.

Sighing, she flipped her black hood up over her brunette hair to protect against the rain before tucking her hands into the pockets of the close fitting hoody. She paired it with black jeans and sturdy combat boots to finish the look. She liked to think that it made her look a little tougher than she actually was. For a while, she'd considered piercings or tattoos, but she knew she couldn't afford it and even if she could, she didn't want to change her appearance in any way that was permanent. Despite how dark and hopeless her life was at the moment, she dared to dream that she would get away from it one day.

A scream rang out and she froze, her head snapping up as she looked for the source of the distress. She waited for confirmation that she had actually heard someone scream before she went to investigate. Not even five seconds later another cry sounded and she silently walked down the alley, peeking her head around the corner. The left lead to a dead end and Ember was slightly shocked to see a girl, about ten years older than herself, lying on the ground while an obviously angry man towered over her.

The girl - no, the woman, Ember corrected herself - was sobbing and the man was clearly beating her. Ember knew that it would be safer if she continued on her way, but she just couldn't do it. Not when she knew from first hand experience how it felt.

Taking a deep breath, she headed forward, not bothering to be quiet now. "Hey! What's going on here?"

The man whirled around and Ember forced herself to keep her gaze on him, not letting him see her fear. It would do her no good. Men like him were not merciful because their prey was scared. No, that would just prove to make him more eager to inflict pain, only it wouldn't be on the poor woman sobbing on the ground. It would be focused on Ember herself. "And who are you, princess, that you think you can be questioning me?"

"Oh, no one really." Ember said in a nonchalant tone, shrugging her shoulders and looking down. She was playing it off as casual, uncaring, but really she just wanted to get a look on how badly the woman was hurt. She seemed okay. A little bruised, but it could have been much worse. She could probably run if it came down to it.

Satisfied that the woman was mostly unharmed, Ember rolled her head back up to look at the man with a dark smile. "Just Dagger's girl."

She felt a brief flash of joyful vengeance at the fear that spread across his features. Dagger was the head gang leader of the Black Dragons and she knew that no one would cross him. It was true, of course, that she had never met the guy, but Mark was close to him. They were in business together. "I don't think he would be too happy to find out that you were beating on my friend, so if you want the two of us to forget about this ever happening, I suggest you leave."

The man nodded, easily believing the lie before he ran off, Ember watching him disappear down the street before kneeling beside the soaked woman. At first the woman recoiled away from her, fear in her eyes.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Everything I just said was a complete lie." Ember rushed to reassure the woman. "I don't even know Dagger all that well."

"How did...? He should have known it was a lie. He didn't even check!" The woman said in a slightly hysterical bubblegum voice. "That isn't like him, he's planning something."

"No, he's not. Trust me." Ember said, helping the woman to her feet and taking note of her blonde hair, manicured nails, and baby blue eyes. "Dagger's known to have a new girl nearly every week unless they're really good. I think he has one permanent, but I'm not sure. And if you know who Dagger is then you know that anyone who follows him, would never cross him unless their life was threatened. Was that the first time that's happened?"

"He just snapped!" The woman cried, sobbing more and shivering as the rain continued to pour down. Ember felt a pang of sympathy and she quickly slipped her coat off and wrapped it around the woman's smooth shoulders. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but my place should be safe. You can get cleaned up and wait for the rain to stop." Ember offered, positive that Mark would be gone til early morning. It was only ten and that should give them plenty of time. "It's not far. Would you be okay with that?"

The woman looked around fearfully a couple more times before meeting Ember's eyes and nodding. The blonde was a few inches taller than her and Ember found herself looking up to see her properly, raindrops hitting her face. She smiled gently before turning and continuing in the direction she had previously been going, making sure to accentuate her footfalls for the woman behind her.

They arrived at her house a minute later and Ember gladly got out of the rain, closing the door behind them, but being careful not to lock it. Mark would explode if he came home to a locked door and she was sure she would find herself being dragged from bed because of it.

"My room's this way. I have some sweats and a couple of T-Shirt's that are too big so..." She trailed off, turning around upon reaching her room and watching the woman examine the only place that was even remotely hers. "If you want to shower, it's just through the second door down the hall and to the left."

She knew she had directed the woman to Mark's shower, but she didn't feel like the woman would appreciate hers. It wasn't very pleasant. As long as Ember cleaned up after, Mark would never know and she would hopefully avoid punishment. The woman looked at her with a curious expression before she nodded a little.

Ember grabbed the clothes from her dresser and then pulled out some shampoo and conditioner. "Here. You can keep the clothes and use as much of these as you need. Don't worry about it."

The woman proceeded to head to the shower and Ember found herself releasing a sigh of relief. The space was once again hers. She knew that it was ridiculous for her to feel that way, but when she owned so little already she tended to be very selfish with what DID belong to her.

Brushing her wet hair behind her ears, she slipped out of her boots and set them at the end of her bed to dry, her clothes soon followed. She wasn't sure how long the woman would take to shower so she didn't waste anytime with pulling on a fresh pair of underwear with a matching bra. They were plain grey and for a moment she found herself wishing she could be like a normal girl. All the other girls at school had lacy undergarments or at least ones that were pretty in color. Then again she supposed she was lucky that Mark had one of his flings get some for her in the first place.

She pulled on a pair of skinny jeans that had a plaid pattern like the kilts the Irish wore and a plain black tank top that was longer in the back than the front. The last thing to do was to pull on some dry socks and a pair of black converse.

Once done, she headed down to the kitchen and started some tea. It was from what she had bought for herself so she knew that Mark wouldn't mind, besides he didn't like it anyways.

While it was steeping she wondered about the blonde woman. There was something off about her. Ember wasn't resentful of her or uncomfortable with her, but she was curious about her. She had been dressed in an elegant and most likely expensive black dress. She looked like she'd been at some fancy party or something so what had she been doing in that alley? Obviously, she knew that guy, so Ember guessed that would make more sense. He'd probably lured her out or something.

The shrill whistling of the teapot broke her from her thoughts and she quickly prepared two cups of the Grey Tea. She considered slipping some Creme brule into hers but shuddered as she thought of the last time she'd done that and the punishment she'd received when she'd been caught. She'd been sore for weeks.

With a sigh, she picked up the two mugs and headed back up to her room. Upon arriving she felt shock and slight anger surge through her and she quickly set the cups down on her nightstand. "What are you doing with that?"

Her Twilight book was lying on her bed and Ember had to resist the urge to snap at the woman. The one thing she valued over everything else was that book. It was the only thing she'd found that could distract her from the hell that was her life and now it was in the hands of this strange blonde woman.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm." The woman offered with a small smile that didn't make much sense to Ember. "It's a good read. A better choice than some. You would be happier in that world. Even with the danger at least there would be something worth the pain."

She wanted to live in a novel? While it was an enticing idea, it was completely unrealistic and not worth hoping for due to that very reason. Ember frowned and picked up the woman's cup, holding it out to her. "Thanks...I think. I don't see what it matters to you."

The woman just continued to smile as she accepted the drink, a look in her eyes hinting at hidden knowledge. "Why did you save me tonight? Anyone else would have kept walking when they recognized the mark identifying him as one of Dagger's men."

"Well, I'm not anyone else." Ember replied, taking a sip of her tea. The warmth felt good after being out in the rain. "I couldn't just leave you at his mercy."

"Because you know what it's like." It wasn't a question.

"You know what it's like to have nothing but pain in your life. You've probably started to think that you deserve it, probably don't notice the way you flinch away from contact anymore. You're afraid and you don't even know it." The woman said, picking up Twilight and leafing through it as she balanced her drink on her knee. "You need someone to help you."

Ember frowned, shifting on her feet a bit as she glanced at her prized possession. She really hoped the woman didn't ruin it as she hadn't finished reading it yet.

"And you think you know me?" She asked after a long silence.

"Not quite like you're thinking, but I do know body language." The woman said, completely relaxed. "Your hands were shaking when you handed me the tea, you didn't let your fingers touch mine, and you're still standing all the way across the room."

Ember frowned as she realized that the woman was right. She was still standing in the doorway, her body angled away from her strange guest. She glared at the blonde and her hands tightened around her cup. Though she was shaking with anger, she forced her tone to remain calm. "Are you mocking me? Proving that I am completely weak and stupid? That you're better than me?"

At this the woman looked up, her smile replaced with a startled frown. "No, of course not, dear. I would never do that. You are neither weak nor stupid." She smiled softly at her again. "I suppose I should say thank you. And I wish you the best of luck on what's to come."

She set the book down along with her untouched tea, letting her fingers brush over the cover. "Yes, a good choice indeed. I believe you will enjoy it there very much."

"Enjoy it where?" Ember asked, completely bewildered by this woman. She was so very strange. She tried to think of another word but nothing else fit. Weird was too normal and eccentric was too out there. The woman was just strange enough to seem normal but not.

The woman just smiled and rose, walking out her bedroom door. "It was nice to meet you, Ember."

Ember's eyes snapped up to full on meet the woman's for the first time that night. Hers were wide with shock while the woman's were kind and knowing. How did she know her name? She was about to ask the woman before she realized that she was already gone.

Ember shook her head and moved to sit on her bed, checking to make sure that her book was alright and intact. Why had the woman been so interested in it? She sighed and guzzled down her tea, ignoring the scalding heat. Pain was temporary.

Tucking the book back under her mattress, she headed off to clean the bathroom and started a load of laundry for good measure. Hopefully if the house were clean Mark would leave her alone for the night. It was a nice fantasy.

"Where are you, Em?!" Mark's voice called up the stairs, causing Ember to freeze.

He wasn't supposed to be back for a while now! Panicked, she scooped up the towel the strange woman had used and shoved it in the washing machine, closing the lid and starting it before she raced downstairs, grabbing her empty mug on her way.

"I'm here." She said softly, looking at him, but not at him at the same time. He didn't like her to make eye contact with him since it made them equal. "I was just going to wash this cup."

"Oh. Here let me." He said, holding his arm out. Ember carefully handed it to him, trying to control the shaking of her hand as she frowned and tipped her head to the side. What was he up to? He took the cup from her and headed towards the kitchen.

She was just starting to relax when he turned and hurled the mug at her. She recoiled, ducking down and covering her face as the mug smashed against the wall, an inch from her head. What had she done wrong?

"Why'd you do it? Answer me honestly and I'll let you off with a simple slap. Lie and you'll regret it." Mark threatened, his black eyes narrowing at her.

Ember's breaths started to come out in short gasps as she debated her answer. She had no idea what she'd done, but if she told him that then he would assume she was lying. But what else could she tell him?

"I...I don't..." She took a deep breath and straightened up. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, but I'd be more than happy to take care of it."

Mark was silent, watching her for a moment before marching over and grabbing a fistful of her hair, half-dragging her after him. She struggled to keep up, but it was useless and she found herself stumbling beside him. He tugged her outside before shoving her down the porch steps.

She landed hard on the cement and it was a moment before she could breathe again, the air having been knocked from her lungs. Painfully, she turned her head to the side to see his bright shiny red porsche. Or it was supposed to be shiny and red. Now it was painted over with an ugly, stale black and was scratched to hell.

"That's what I'm talking about." He said, his voice laced with anger as she pushed herself up to the sitting position. "Or did you already forget about it? It wasn't like that when I left."

Ember stayed silent, knowing he would only become more angry if she were to speak. As it was, she'd gotten off easy so far. After another moment of just sitting there, Ember was suddenly yanked to her feet by her hair again and dragged back into the house, only this time the destination was her bedroom.

Once there, Mark let loose, letting all of his anger flow from him to his fists to her body and for the next few hours she knew nothing but fear and pain with a thin layer of numb calm overlaying it. That was the only thing keeping her from crying out, for she knew that if she did then it would only be worse for her. She could hardly remember a time when she didn't find herself in this position at least once a week, though admittedly it usually took place down in the basement.

"I'll deal with you tomorrow or the day after or whenever I feel like it. Until then you don't get to leave this room, not for meals or anything else." Mark said once his arms had tired before pulling the door shut and sliding the lock in place, his footsteps fading away down the hall and stairs.

When she finally came back to herself, she found herself wishing she hadn't when all of the pain nearly overwhelmed her. Her skin had burst in several places and she knew that there would be several bruises littering her form when she woke. The only place that was untouched was her face since it would be difficult to hide the evidence when she went to school.

Eventually, she found the strength to push herself up off the floor and crawl over onto her bed, clutching her book in her hands and trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. It was impossible as her bed was barely even a bed, but rather a hard lump with metal under it that was barely big enough for her.

She clutched the book to herself and closed her eyes, wishing that the woman's words could be true and that it could be possible. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, despite the pain her body was protesting.

Groaning softly, Ember crawled out of bed, stumbling to her bathroom and over to the shower. She fumbled with the faucets until water sprayed out before stripping and climbing in, a little surprised that the water was actually warm, but hey, she wasn't going to complain. Maybe it would help ease her sore muscles.

The lights had never worked so she didn't bother with them. Most people would see it as a downside, but she really didn't. It was more of a relief. She could stand in the dark and forget about the scars and brusies littering her body, she could pretend she were somewhere else, even if it was only for a little while.

Since she was locked in her room, she decided there was no harm in lingering, might as well enjoy the warmth while it lasted. Not a few seconds later her peace was interrupted when her eyelids became bright. If she didn't know any better she would have said that the lights had been turned on but that was ridiculous. They didn't work.

Peeking open one eye, she frowned. It couldn't be. She squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them. It was. The lights were on.

"Since when do you shower in the dark?" An unfamiliar voice said, causing Ember's head to snap to the side. She couldn't see through the shower door, but she could make out a blurry figure of a girl. Wait, shower door?! She'd never had one of those! And definitely not one as perfectly intact as this one. "Hurry up. We're gonna be late for school."

"Um..." Ember opened the shower door a bit and peeked out. "Who are you...and where am I?"

The girl's eyes narrowed and when she spoke her tone was a mixture of sarcasm and confusion. "I'm Bella. You're cousin? We've known each other since we were little? We're practically sisters."

"Right." Ember murmured, glancing around at the light blue bathroom before looking back to her. "And where am I?"

"You fell asleep on the drive so Charlie and I carried you up. You were sleeping so heavily we couldn't have woken you if we tried." Bella said, cracking a smile. "Anyways, I noticed you forgot these so..."

Ember watched as she set a towel and a robe on the counter before leaving the room, swinging the door shut behind her. Who the hell was Charlie? Charlie and Bella...this had to be some kind of joke. She didn't have a cousin named Bella and she didn't know anyone named Charlie. If she did, she would have already been making a ton of Twilight jokes at their expense.

Shaking her head, she quickly toweled off, pulled the robe on and exited the bathroom, only to walk into a man she had never seen before in her life. He was tall, had a mustache that really suited him, short brown hair, and large, brown eyes that were filled with warmth she was sure would quickly disappear. She froze in place as he looked at her before quickly turning, his expression showing how awkward the situation was for him.

She felt a fear that she'd only experienced once before swell within her, causing her throat to constrict and her heart to pound in her chest. Who was he? Had Mark called in one of his friends to help with her punishment? And if so why had she never met him? Mark always had his friends over and they always loved to taunt her. They would sometimes go so far as to join in with her beatings. If he were here to torture her, why did he turn away? Was he pretending? No. She probably just repulsed him. Maybe he didn't like his girls marked up. 'Marked up', she thought with a grimace. What an accurate term for the bruises and cuts littering her body.

"Morning. I'll, uh, leave you to it."

Ember didn't respond, only watched as he hurried down the stairs. What the hell was happening? He hadn't done anything! He hadn't attempted to grab her or even touch her in any fashion, even though she was certain he'd noticed just how vulnerable she was at the moment. He was most definitely stronger than her and it would take almost nothing for him to take advantage of her, but he'd just turned around, greeted her, and...left. Where was the catch? What was he planning? If Mark wanted his friends to do something, especially if it included her, then no one would refuse him. No one, no matter what their preferences might be. Also, where the hell was her bedroom?!

It took her a moment to realize that she was hyperventilating and "Bella" was standing in front of her. This was insane!

"Em, what's wrong?" She wondered, concern lacing her tone as she stared at her with her chocolate brown eyes. When she didn't get an answer she led her into a room that was right off of the bathroom and sat her down on the bed. "Look, just calm down."

Ember forced her breathing to steady and locked eyes with the girl in front of her. What was her part in this? Drawing on the little the girl had said, Ember nodded slowly before forcing a shaky smile onto her face. "Sorry, Bells. I'm just a little disoriented still and nervous about school. I hope I didn't worry Charlie."

When she said the name, she motioned in the direction the man had departed in.

The brunette in front of her chuckled a little. "Probably more like scarred him for life. Did you forget that we share a bathroom?"

"Yeah. I have my own at home. I guess I just forgot where I was for a second." She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Um, you said that Charlie carried me up? Where are my clothes and the other stuff I brought?" Did something happen last night that she should know about? Well, she'd still been in the clothes she'd gone to sleep in so that was somewhat showing that nothing had been done to her as she slept.

"Oh. You're bag's over there in the corner." She pointed it out and then grabbed a black school bag. "I hope you don't mind, but I figured you'd be a little out of it today and so I got your school stuff together for you."

"No problem." Ember murmured with another smile. She didn't really care, she just wanted the girl to leave her to get dressed. Even though the man was gone, she still felt VERY uncomfortable in nothing but a robe.

"Hurry up and get dressed." She gave Ember one last grin before heading out of the room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was gone the smile fell from Ember's face and she hurried over to what was apparently her suitcase and practically ripped it open, grabbing the first things her hands landed on.

She wound up dressed in a pair of white skinny jeans, a black tank top, dark red converse, and a long black sweater that had a skull on the front and a hood attached to the back. One good thing about Mark was the fact that she wasn't allowed to dress in rags. She had to keep up appearances. He wanted her to be the most popular girl at school, be social, well dressed. The works. He wanted her to be surrounded by people who were supposed to be her friends because they both knew that they would never learn about what really happened at her house. He'd even gone so far as to have her invite her "friends" over and he would keep up his own facade as well. The clothes were actually one of the few things she wouldn't hate if he hadn't picked out everything she wore. She didn't dislike the choices, but just the fact that he'd chosen them made her feel sick to her stomach.

Now that she wasn't in a robe, she took a moment to calm down a bit more and looked around at the room she was in. It had light blue walls, a peaked ceiling, the window was framed by yellow lace curtains, and the floor was wooden. There were no scratch marks on the boards as there had been in her room. No signs of her Hell. She quickly moved on from that train of thought, instead grabbing a brush and yanking it through her wet hair.

She snatched her bag off the bed and practically sprinted down the stairs where she found "Bella" sitting at an old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs that were placed around it. The kitchen was small with dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and a white linoleum floor. Exactly how it was described in the book. Mark seemed to be going to great lengths to punish her. She didn't know how he'd found out about Twilight, but now that he had, he was attempting to ruin it for her. At least she'd only read the one book and not even the whole thing at that. Perhaps by the time the second came out, he would forgive her for the car.

She remembered that Bella's mother had painted the cabinets with the hopes of brightening the place and giving the look of sunshine. She smiled at Bella when the brunette glanced at her and shook her head as a box of cereal was silently offered to her. "Not hungry."

She walked into the family room and straight to the small fireplace. The pictures were there. There was "Charlie" and "Renee" in Vegas on their wedding, "Bella's" baby picture with her parents, and then all of "Bella's" school pictures. Mark was definitely trying to make this as authentic as possible. However, something she hadn't expected were the baby pictures of herself. There were a few school pictures too. The one that stood out most to her however was the one where her mother was holding her, a smile on her face. Mark was in the picture, but for once Ember let herself forget about him as she stared at the woman's gentle and happy smile.

She didn't really remember her mother, but she knew it was her. She'd seen pictures. It had been a way for Mark to torture her. He'd show her the pictures and then remind her that her mother was gone because of her.

"Hey, don't look at those!" "Bella's" voice startled her and she glanced over at the brunette with wide eyes. "They're embarrassing."

She quickly looked away from the small mortified smile on the girl's face and back to the picture. With a sigh, she forced her eyes away from it, brushing the few tears that had fallen from her face and heading for the front door. The house was suddenly suffocating to her. "Come on. Don't want to be late."

She frowned as she stepped outside the house and into the light drizzling rain. It would seem the universe was playing the joke on her as well, she thought, watching as "Bella" pulled the key out from under the eaves and locked up before leading her over to the large red faded truck. How much money had Mark invested in this? Surely he didn't love his car this much, did he? Ember climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up, looking expectantly at "Bella" and waiting for her to give up the joke, but the girl merely turned the engine on - it was loud as the book had described it - and flicked the old radio on to a random channel.

Ember rolled her eyes and leaned against the window, watching as trees flit by. Where was she? He hadn't moved her to Forks, Washington in the middle of the night, there was no way, but this definitely wasn't the large city she was used to. In no time at all they were pulling up to a building that was called Forks High School. Well, building wasn't exactly right. It was a collection of matching maroon houses.

"Bella" parked in front of the front office and though Ember was reluctant the two of them got out of the cab of the truck and headed into the small building. It was warm inside and Ember found herself in a small room with an orange flecked commercial carpet, soft, padded folding chairs, a large clock and plants everywhere. There was a large counter that cut the room in half and behind one of the three desks behind it there sat a large red-haired woman wearing glasses and a purple T- shirt. Ember noticed Bella glance down at her clothes through her peripheral vision.

The woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

Yes, Ember thought, a little bitingly as her anger rose. You can all stop playing this prank on me. By this point, she honestly didn't know what to think. Everything was too realistic and on point for it to be false, but it couldn't be real either.

"I'm Isabella Swan. " Bella introduced before waving a hand at Ember. "This is my cousin, Ember Matthews."

Ember watched awareness light in the red-head's eyes and immediately felt sick. She didn't want all of their attention on her and yet she knew that that was exactly what Mark wanted. He wanted her to know that everyone was watching her humiliation and they were probably all enjoying it. They were all very good actors, she thought savagely as she directed her gaze to her feet in the attempts of not glaring at or vomiting on the red-headed woman in front of her. She didn't really care, but she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing how much it got to her.

"Of course." She heard the woman say before the sound of shuffling papers reached her ears. "I have your schedules right here and a map of the school."

Ember carefully schooled her expression before looking up with a very pleasant smile on her face as she accepted the schedule from the woman. By the end of the conversation with Mrs. Cope - as the nameplate on her desk referred to her - they both had maps with routes to each of their classes highlighted, and a slip for each of their teachers to sign.

Ember followed Bella out and climbed back into the truck, looking through all of the cars in the lot until her eyes landed on the silver Volvo. There was no way Mark had bought a brand new car and house just to trick her, was there? But what else could it be? Maybe that blonde woman from last night had something to do with it, she pondered, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth. She had seemed very intent on her book and she'd been dressed all fancy, but why would she do that? Maybe she was working for Mark?

After Bella had parked, Ember quickly climbed out of the truck, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder and heading for her first class which happened to be Bella's first class as well. It was in building three. English. Not a bad subject.

She hurried into the class and to the teacher's desk, handing him the slip of paper to sign. "You must be Isabella."

"I'm Ember." She corrected, accepting the paper back along with a reading list. "Are there assigned seats Mr. Mason or...?"

"Just go sit in the back for now." He told her, replacing his shocked expression with a small smile before he started going through some of the papers on his desk. She hurried and sat down near one of the windows, laying her head down on the desk as she pulled her hood off. She wasn't entirely sure how long this joke was supposed to go on, but she had to give them credit. They were doing a good job of keeping up the charade. Almost too good. In fact, she almost believed that she'd somehow been transported to the Twilight Universe. She chuckled humorlessly into her arms. Wouldn't that be nice?

She didn't even look up as the other students walked in or when Bella sat down beside her or when Mr. Mason started the lesson. Basically, she didn't look up from her arms until the nasally sounding bell rang and then she was out of the classroom as quickly as possible. She'd managed to be the first outside even.

She found that she had most of the same classes as Bella and her next class was government. Most of her morning followed the same fashion until she got to Trigonometry. Mr. Varner signed her slip and then had her wait until the rest of the class, including Bella, had filtered in so that she could introduce herself.

Once the class was settled, she spoke, ignoring Bella's concerned gaze on her back. "So, I'm Ember Matthews. I moved down here with my cousin Bella and my Uncle Charlie and just got here last night."

She glanced at Mr. Varner who nodded and allowed her to take her seat in the back of the room. She immediately buried her head in her arms as she had in all of her other classes and refused to acknowledge the outside world. Mr. Varner thankfully only called on her once and she'd been able to answer his question fairly easily. Trig wasn't all that hard for her.

Again, she was out of her seat as soon as the bell had rung, only this time she was heading for the cafeteria. She had half a mind to skip as she was sure this was where the joke would be up. But she needed to know. She couldn't let this go on. She would go to lunch, see whoever Mark had gotten for the Cullens and then she would have her confirmation that all of this was some large joke. After all there was no human that could look the way the Cullens were described in the book. It wasn't possible.

She stopped in the bathroom to make sure she was pulled together and ready for whatever was about to happen. Staring at herself in the mirror, she sighed and brushed her hair over her shoulder, plastering a smile on her face and heading for the cafeteria. By the time she got there, Bella was already sitting at a table with "Jessica" and "Angela" and all of their other friends.

Ember walked through the cafeteria, knowing that she looked confident to anyone who saw her. No one had ever seen through her facade before and she wasn't worried now. She pretended to be looking for somewhere to sit as she slowed down a bit, but she was really looking for the table that would hold the five "Cullens". Or rather the poor imitation of them.

Her confident expression faltered as she finally spotted them. They were beautiful. Far more beautiful than anything she could've imagined. Emmett was far more muscular than she'd imagined and yet his soft black curls gave him a kind, gentle look if you looked hard enough. Jasper was tall and though his expression was blank, his eyes held a vast pool of emotions she wasn't sure she wanted to look close enough to identify. Rosalie was practically Aphrodite herself with her long blonde locks. Alice was child like and beautiful as well, not on the same scale as Rosalie, but rather on her own personal scale. And then there was Edward. He was everything she'd imagined and more. His bronze colored hair was effortlessly messy and yet it suited him. His small movements hinted at a gracefulness people could only dream of. His eyes were calculating and knowledgeable when they bothered to wash over the sea of students the cafeteria held, hinting at his intelligence. They were all perfect.

Ember snapped out of her thoughts as Alice passed by her to empty her tray. And it was definitely Alice. There was no denying it. She didn't know how or why, but she was certain that this wasn't a joke. She was in Twilight. They were actually the Cullens and she was in Forks. She honestly didn't expect the crushing sadness and guilt that hit her as she realized this and she only just managed not to collapse as Bella came over and invited her to sit with her and her new friends.

She nodded, quickly putting her confident smile back onto her face as she slid onto a chair beside Bella. She had to keep up appearances, even here. No one could know or Mark would find out somehow. Or was he even here? He'd been in that photo, but was he different? She really didn't know, but could she take the chance?

"What's up with you?" Bella asked softly, curiosity and concern in her gaze. "It's unusual for you to gawk at people like that."

Ember forced a smirk onto her face. "Nothing. Just weighing how much competition I have." She felt a stab of sorrow and guilt at the words, but she knew she had to keep up her shallow appearance. It was what Mark expected.

"Who are they?" Bella asked of Jessica, nibbling on an apple. Ember couldn't help turning to look over her shoulder at the family she wished she could know. Her eyes were drawn to the bronze haired vampire she'd only ever seen in dreams before today. She watched him turn to Jessica for a fraction of a second before his gaze shifted to meet hers. She startled a little, but quickly cleared her face of any shock. Shouldn't he have looked at Bella?

He looked away quickly and yet Ember found she didn't want to turn away, but she did, instead turning back to Jessica, who was still explaining the Cullens to Bella. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."

Ember turned back to Edward who was now tearing up a bagel and talking quietly to his siblings who weren't paying any attention to him as far as anyone else was concerned. This was possibly one of the cruelest jokes the universe could have played on her. He was going to go for Bella and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It was probably better that way though, she reasoned. She wasn't anything special and he deserved everything, plus up until now he'd been a fictional character to her. All she felt now was a crush because he was one of the most attractive boys-guys-people she'd ever laid eyes on and she knew that he was a good person though he carried guilt with him all the time. It would pass, she just had to be careful not to get to know him.

"-they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that." Ember turned back to Jessica as the girl finished speaking.

"That's really kind of nice - for them to take care of all of those kids like that, when they're so young and everything..." Bella commented.

Ember tuned their conversation out as she turned back to the Cullens. As she was examining them, Edward looked up again and met her gaze, though instead of looking completely uninterested as he had before, he seemed curious. He was probably just trying to read her mind, she mused and then froze. She kept her expression blank as she watched him for any sign that he'd heard her. It wouldn't make sense for him not to be able to. She bit her lip and looked down at her lap.

Okay, she was sitting in a cafeteria with a vampire staring at her who could probably hear what she was thinking and now he knew that she knew. She peeked up at him carefully, but he didn't seem to be angry or anything else that would be fitting if he'd heard that she knew his secret, but rather his expression went from curious and expectant to frustrated before she dropped her gaze from his. Could he not hear her then? She sighed and set her uneaten apple on Bella's tray before getting up and heading for the exit, glancing over at Edward one last time to see the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. What was that about? She couldn't help but wonder.

She knew that Stephenie Meyer had been writing a version of Twilight that would be from Edward's perspective, but she'd never gotten the chance to read it since someone had leaked the rough draft and it would never be finished. She hadn't read that either because she felt as though that wouldn't be fair to Stephenie and she also didn't have a computer. Now she wished she'd had the chance though.

But would it really be the same? She was changing things just by being here and she really couldn't know how much it expanded. All of the events were completely altered now because she was here. It was now, for all intents and purposes, an alternate reality. So, did that mean she should just not worry and let things play out? Should she attempt to get to know the Cullens?

She immediately dashed that thought, looking down at her feet in shame. They wouldn't want to get to know someone like her. She was the lowest of the low. Unworthy of their attention. She didn't deserve them.

As soon as she was out of the cafeteria, she let her facade fall and headed away from the school. She was the biggest hypocrite ever and it wasn't even her fault. Or maybe it was. All her school life, she was forced to hide who she really was, that way no one ever found out about what Mark had done to her. What he still did to her. Edward hid who he was and now she knew, but she couldn't tell him. He would tell his family and she wasn't sure how they would react. She would have to explain how she knew and she couldn't do that without lying even further. But she couldn't not tell him her secret, could she? She'd taken his from him. Secret for a secret, right?

"And where do you think you're going?" A strict voice said from behind her. She turned and saw that it was Mr. Varner. Great, she thought. Why couldn't things work out for her just once? "Well?"

"I was looking for the Biology classroom." She lied smoothly, smiling a little shyly and brushing her slightly damp hair out of her face. "Got a little turned around."

"Uh-huh. I bet." He answered in a tone that clearly said he thought she was lying. She felt irritated by his dislike towards her, but she really didn't deserve anything more than that. "It's this way."

She sighed and reluctantly followed him to the Biology class where he went so far as to lead her into the room. Upon entering she saw that the teacher, Mr. Banner, had already started his lecture. She felt her heart skip a beat when she thought of how Mark would react when he learned she'd been late to class and then reminded herself that as far as she knew, he wasn't here. That thought alone brought a smile to her face and she was easily able to slip into the confident facade she usually wore in public.

Making her way over to Mr. Banner's desk, she noticed Edward clearing his things from one side of the desk and then she realized that he was sitting alone. She glanced around the room until her eyes landed on Bella, who was sitting with Angela. Stopping in front of the teacher, she handed him her slip to sign and wondered how Edward would react to someone like her sitting beside him, but she dismissed it. At least he wasn't being tortured by Bella's scent being a foot away all period.

Taking the slip back along with a biology book, she headed for the only empty seat, feeling warm air hit her from the heater as she glanced at Edward again. The look in his coal black eyes froze her in place and she felt her facade shatter. She couldn't stop the fear that constricted her throat and made her heart pound as she stared into his furious eyes. It was supposed to be Bella that made him look and react like that, not her. Then again, maybe it was right that it was her. After all, she was practically mud to scrape off a boot already. Everyone in the classroom was far better than she was.

"Please take your seat, Ms. Matthews." Mr. Banner said loudly, snapping her from her frozen state. Trying to ignore the laughing students, she slowly went to sit down beside Edward, her heart rate increasing with every step that brought her closer to him.

He was probably thinking about killing her right now. What if she'd changed the book so much that he couldn't control the thirst? What if he killed her right here and now? He would have to kill everyone else in the room in order to preserve his secret. He would kill Bella. Everyone in the room would die...because of her. All of their deaths would be as much her fault as they would be his.

It was obvious that it was difficult for him as she slid into the seat beside him from the way he held himself. He was very stiff and leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair while turning his face away. She was sure that he could hear her heart pounding in her chest like a million jackhammers.

She wished she could make it easier on him, after all it wasn't his fault that she was so appealing, and she was certain that she was. There was no other reason for him to be acting like this. It couldn't be Bella since he was leaning _towards_ her.

She was sure to stay as still as she could and attempted to take shallow breaths, but with how fast her heart was hammering in her chest it was almost painful to take such short breaths. Somehow she managed. Even when she started to grow dizzy from the lack of air she was inhaling, she kept her breaths as shallow and slow as she could. She unintentionally tilted her head, causing her hair to fall over her shoulder as an idea presented itself to her. Forcing her body into stillness, she snuck a glance at Edward. He was still in the same position. Back straight, hands clenched into fists, and pulling away from her as much as he possibly could.

She had to be careful with her plan since she didn't want to cause more problems than she was fixing, but how to proceed? If she pretended to faint, it might cause them to send her to the hospital and that wasn't what she wanted. They would most likely find out things she didn't want them to know since they would probably need to run some blood tests. In order to insert the needle - she shivered involuntarily at just the thought of the small item - she would have to roll up her sleeves and they would see what Mark had done to her.

Perhaps she could just ask to go to the nurse, claiming that she didn't feel well, but that might seem a bit suspicious so early in the period. She bit her lip and glanced over at Edward. He didn't appear to be breathing at this point and while it looked extremely unnerving, she could guess why he did it. If you didn't breath, you couldn't smell or taste for that matter.

But how long would he be able to resist? She couldn't be sure and every second she sat here, the closer to danger everyone in the room was. Suppressing a sigh, she very slowly crossed her arms on the desk and laid her head down on them, shoving her books off the table as she did so. She hoped it would cause the teacher to look over, but luck as usual was not on her side and they just landed on her bag with a soft, barely audible thump. None of her teachers, save Mr. Varner, had called her out on this position in class so she really didn't expect Mr. Banner to be any different.

Again suppressing a sigh and the urge to shoot a glare at her books, she slowly began to slide across the desk, pretending to fall asleep. Just a little more and the chair would fall over, sending her crashing to the ground. And she would go, willingly. After, she would pretend to hit her wrist and then ask to go to the nurse's office to get it looked at. Once there she would pretend to not be feeling well and she could make up excuses till the period was over. Excuses she could do. Over the years, she'd become a great liar.

She continued to slide over the desk, letting her body relax as she waited for her chair to fall over, but just as the chair was about to fall over, it caught on something. She shifted and peered through the circle her arms had made to see that it was caught on the leg of Edward's chair.

She couldn't help the half laugh half sob that escaped her as she realized this. All she was trying to do was escape this classroom so that Edward didn't have to suffer anymore and HE was the one inadvertently preventing her from doing so.

"Miss Matthews, is something funny?" A soft but authoritative voice asked and her head snapped up as she momentarily forgot the thirsty vampire sitting beside her. He stiffened even more at her sudden movement and she stared at Mr. Banner. For just a second, he'd sounded like Mark, only Mark never referred to her as 'Miss Matthews'.

Forcing a smile on her face, she straightened up. "Oh, nothing much, Mr. Banner. I just think the lesson is hilariously outdated. Much like you are."

She now had the attention of the entire class. Great. Hopefully, her plan was at least worth the trouble. Ember saw Bella's wide, disapproving eyes and felt a flash of guilt. Bella didn't need this kind of behavior from her, but Edward needed it. If her plan worked, he would be free to finish the period in peace without her ramming her scent down his throat.

"Is that so?" Mr. Banner demanded, his expression a little angry. "Then perhaps you would like to teach my class?"

"Well, I could probably do a better job than you, but then it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining for me." She responded, resting her chin in her hand and smirking at him.

"I doubt it'll be so entertaining for you when you stay after class with me." He told her, turning away to finish writing on the board. "Everyone get to work."

His words sent a brief flash of fear through her as she thought of what the implications of his statement could be. She had to force herself to remember that he was a teacher and wouldn't actually hurt her. Or, well, probably wouldn't hurt her anyways.

She pursed her lips thinking for a moment before she glanced over to Edward and then towards his books. He had his biology book and a notebook.

It would have to do, she decided since her books were still on the floor and in order to retrieve them, she would have to move around a lot. Maybe it was just her, but she didn't think that would be very helpful for the vampire beside her.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she rubbed her temples before carefully grabbing Edward's notebook and flipping it open. From the corner of her eye, she saw him glance at her with a glare but otherwise he did nothing. She pulled a page from his notebook and crumpled it into a tight ball before pulling her arm back and throwing it at Mr. Banner. Unfortunately, Mike chose that exact moment to sit up and it hit him instead. He shot a confused glare at her over his shoulder and she fought the urge to face palm.

Luck really hated her today.

"Stop it." Bella hissed, shooting her a glare past Edward as she leaned closer to her. "Just because of you know what, it doesn't mean that it's okay for you to act like this."

Ember looked at her with confusion which quickly morphed into shock and panic. Did she know? No, she couldn't know about Edward. There was absolutely no way she could know. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb." She said with a scoff. "It's the whole reason you came to live with Charlie and I."

At this Ember felt herself get even more confused, but she dismissed it for now. It wasn't about Edward, so at the moment it didn't matter. However, Bella's comments did bring reality crashing back around her. What was she thinking? She would be in so much trouble after this and she was still sitting in her seat so it had all been for nothing. Sighing loudly, she raised her hand.

Mr. Banner broke off from what he was saying to one of the groups when he saw her and after taking a deep breath he walked over. "What is it, Miss Matthews?"

How was he so calm? She wondered as she lowered her hand. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. It was out of line and I shouldn't have said it. I honestly didn't mean it either, I was just trying to start stuff. I'm sorry and it won't happen again. And no, this isn't me trying to get out of any punishment you might give me, in fact double it, if you want. I probably deserve worse."

Deserved worse, yes, but admittedly the thought of punishment sent her heart racing and she again had to remind herself of what punishments in school were like.

"That won't be necessary, Miss Matthews. I understand that things were...complicated at your last home and-"

"What?" She interrupted, the color draining from her face as she thought about the implications. Did he know? "What do you think you could possibly know about me?"

His eyes crinkled with what she guessed was pity. "I don't know the specifics, but I did hear about some neglect? If you wish to speak about it then-"

She didn't wait for him to finish speaking, instead opting to hop off of her chair and hurry out of the room, leaving her stuff behind.

This wasn't happening! They couldn't know! No one could know! Was that what Bella had been referring to?

She felt her throat constrict and the world started spinning. She couldn't breath, she couldn't think! She had tried so hard to keep it a secret and it'd been for nothing. How was she going to explain this to Mark?! He would kill her for this, she was certain. Legitimately _kill_ her. Not only that, but he would make sure it hurt.

NO! She recoiled back into the wall and shook her head fervently. That wasn't going to happen. She would just run away. Yeah, that's what she'd do. Or she would tell the police. The mere thought had her paling and fighting the urge to be sick. What if he found out though? What if he found her after she'd run? She was no match for him and if he found out that she turned him in, he would make everything she'd already suffered through seem like a family picnic.

It wasn't until she got outside that she remembered that Mark wasn't there with her. He wasn't in Forks. She didn't even know if the Mark she knew were here. She was free of him.

The thought helped her calm down enough to breath, but she still hurried over to Bella's truck and climbed into the back, curling up against the side of it since she didn't have a key. It was cold and raining, but at the same time, she preferred it this way. It helped her clear her mind.

Numbness crashed over her in waves and she didn't even try to fight it. Rather, she welcomed it. It would also help calm her. Not to mention, at this point it was comforting to her. It came after every beating, every punishment that Mark had thought up. Or well, almost all of them. She shied away from those thoughts, curling into herself more.

She was almost completely calm when she saw him. He was sitting in his car, just staring at the school. The fear she had felt in the classroom didn't reach her through the numb shield she'd wrapped herself in. Edward's features were conflicted and...full of shame? Why would he be ashamed? She was the one who had blundered in and nearly ruined him. He would've lost everything because of her. Carlisle would probably forgive him, if he was anything like he was in the book, and she knew that all of his family members would help him hide the bodies. Well, almost all of them. She wasn't entirely sure about Rosalie.

She hadn't read the chapter where Bella was going to meet the whole Cullen family, but the impression she'd gotten from them earlier in the book was that they were pretty caring about each other. Rosalie was very...harsh towards Bella, but who wouldn't be? Edward had stopped sitting with them in exchange for sitting with a human who was tempting to all of the Cullens. It was the equivalent to playing with your food, minus the eating bit.

She startled as something dropped down beside her in the truck bed, but it was only Bella so she quickly relaxed again. Though she had only met the girl that morning, she felt like she'd known her forever. She threw a quick glance over at Edward and was shocked to see that he was now staring at her. He didn't seem to be struggling as much as he had been in the school though. Maybe she was downwind from him?

"I grabbed your bag." Bella murmured, holding up the said item for her to see. "I thought you knew that Charlie told the teachers what he knew. Sorry."

Ember stared at her for a moment before taking her bag and fiddling with the strap. "How much do they know?"

"As much as Charlie and I do which isn't a lot." She replied, her chocolate eyes full of concern. "Why don't you just tell us what happened? Did Mark and your stepmom separate or something?"

Ember looked up at that, relief filtering through the numbness. She didn't know. Not really. Her secret was still safe. As the relief came, the numbness went and she started to feel the cold. It didn't take long for her to start shivering.

"Come on, I think you'll like our next class." Bella said, standing with a smile and holding a hand out. "It's gym."

"Right." Ember murmured, accepting Bella's offer of help but still having to steady herself using the roof of the truck as Bella lost her balance and nearly pitched over the side. "Careful or we'll be going to the hospital instead of the gym."

"Ha ha." Bella said with a roll of her eyes as she carefully hopped out of the truck bed, followed by Ember. "It's your fault for making me follow you out here."

Ember nodded and forced a smile before hoisting her bag onto her shoulder and heading for the gym, throwing one last glance at Edward. He was no longer looking at her.

Once inside the gym, Ember realized just how cold she'd been and instantly started rubbing her arms in the hopes of warming up. Coach Clapp found both her and Bella uniforms, but told them that they didn't have to dress down. For a little while, Ember watched the volleyball games - Bella looked sick just watching them - but eventually she got bored with that and went into a corner of the gym to entertain herself. Dancing was what she decided on to complete the job.

She started out slow, refreshing herself as she let the world fade away. She didn't feel the pain of her injuries and there was only mild stiffness that quickly disappeared. It was the one time she felt like she could truly be herself and it quickly got her mind off of anything but the way her body moved to perform the dance. She vaguely noticed music being turned on and immediately set herself to dancing in beat with the music, but for the most part she just let herself relax. The music seemed to go on forever and yet in no time at all the song ended and she looked up to see Bella watching her with a small smile on her face, phone in hand.

The bell rang a moment later and Ember quickly scooped up her bag and headed to the office, leaving Bella to talk to her new friends. The rain was gone, but the wind had picked up and increased in it's iciness. Was that even a word? She wondered absently as she entered the warm office. She very nearly turned and walked right back out, but something compelled her to go and lean against the back wall while waiting for the receptionist to be free.

Edward was standing in front of her, arguing with Ms. Cope in a low, attractive voice. There was no mistaking his tousled bronze hair and for the moment he didn't seem to notice her entrance so she allowed herself to just be silent and listen. The gist of the argument was easy to catch onto and though she understood his reasoning, it hurt that she was causing so many problems. He was trying to transfer out of sixth hour Biology and from the sounds of it, he didn't care what period he took as long as it wasn't sixth.

The door opened again and she felt the cold wind swirl her hair around her face. She stiffened almost in sync with Edward as the girl who came in stepped forward, placed a paper in the basket, and then walked out. After a tense moment, he slowly turned, his face absurdly handsome as he glared at her with piercing, hate-filled eyes. She felt her heart skip a beat, but struggled to stay calm as he turned away.

"Never mind, then," His voice was like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel and disappeared out the door.

Why had she stayed? She should've just left, but instead she apparently thought that Edward should be tortured some. She was so cruel and stupid!

"How did your first day go, dear?" The receptionist asked as Ember walked over and handed the signed slip to her.

"Fine." She lied, before hurrying back out into the downpour and over to Bella's truck. She got there just in time to see Edward peeling out of the parking lot in his Volvo. He was going to Alaska, she recalled, guilt filling her when she thought of him being away from his family because of her. Even if it was just a week. Or would that be different too? What if he never came back? Why did she mess everything up?

She'd managed to kill her mother in childbirth, something was always amiss no matter how hard she tried to appease Mark as she grew up, and she couldn't even leave a classroom properly. Edward hated her and rightfully so. She was a waste of space, time, and energy. It was a wonder Charlie was even letting her stay with him.

She shook these thoughts from her head and climbed into the truck's cab, waiting for Bella to arrive. She did soon and they were soon heading for Charlie's, Ember fighting tears the whole way. As soon as they got back, Ember sprinted up to Bella's room and curled up on the bed, letting the tears fall.


	2. Conversations

"Wake up!"

Ember startled awake as she was shaken and only just managed to resist the urge to recoil into herself when she realized that it was just Bella. Sighing, she rolled over and sat up. She'd almost expected to wake and find that she'd dreamt everything, but apparently she was here to stay. Her lips turned up into a genuine smile when the truth crashed over her. She didn't have to go back to living with Mark!

"What's got you so happy?" Bella wondered, tossing her a towel.

Ember just shook her head and bounced up to tackle Bella in a hug. The other girl awkwardly returned it, but Ember was quickly pulling away and yanking clothes out of her suitcase before skipping into the bathroom. This was the best thing that had ever happened to her, she thought, humming a little as she climbed into the shower.

Her enthusiasm didn't last long as two thoughts presented themselves to her. The first, Edward was gone and she didn't know if he was even coming back and the second, things were different due to her being here so what if Edward hadn't even left? Part of her felt joy at the thought because in all honesty she wanted to get to know the -boy?...guy?...vampire? -she'd read about to escape her version of Hell, but the other part of her, the sane and rational part shivered in fear. If he hadn't left, then was it just a matter of time before he killed her? Or was he strong enough to resist while still being around her?

She hoped he was. If he had stayed or if he came back then she wouldn't be able to stay away from him. Life for her had always been on the edge and even though she was terrified that Edward might kill her, she wasn't terrified for herself. She only hoped that if it came down to that, she didn't take anyone down with her. That wasn't all she was worried about though. She couldn't help but worry about the consequences that would occur for him and his family if it were to come to the worst.

They would have to leave and start over again, somewhere else. Most likely, they would all forgive him, but Edward would never forgive himself. He would feel so guilty and so much like the monster he thought he was. And it would be all her fault.

Today was both better and worse for Ember. It was better because she knew her teachers and the routes to her classes. It was easier because Bella seemed to be making friends and so she didn't have to worry on that topic. That was one thing the two of them had in common. They were both fiercely protective of the other, even though Ember had only know her for a little while. She'd noticed that if Bella mentioned something that had happened between the two of them in Bella's past than she would remember it too so she never ran into any awkward moments where she didn't know what the other brunette was talking about.

It was worse because she was tired; she wasn't used to sharing a bed with someone and she wasn't used to sleeping on such a comfortable bed. It was worse because she was still getting strange looks from everyone due to her actions in class yesterday.

In Gym, Ember and Bella had to play volleyball and the one time Bella didn't cringe away from the ball, she managed to send it flying directly into Ember's head. The worst part though was that Edward was gone.

She'd expected it, but she hadn't been able to stop herself from hoping that he'd show up in Biology. It was silly and dumb and possibly cruel of her, but she didn't want him to be gone. She would've gone to lunch to find him, but she figured that he should have some time before class to prepare himself for seeing her. If he ever came back, that was.

She had a full table to herself in Biology and she managed to do that day's work and the previous day's work with time to spare, but every time she looked at his empty seat, the guilt would return.

"I am so sorry." Bella said for the fiftieth time as her and Ember exited the gym, heading for Bella's truck. Bella had changed back into her clothes, but Ember was still in her gym uniform.

"It's fine. Really." She muttered, resisting the urge to rub her head where the ball had connected with it. "I've had worse. Trust me."

Bella looked like she wanted to apologize again, but thankfully she refrained. "And you're sure you'll be fine on your own while I go shopping?"

Ember nodded with a small smile. "Positive."

With that the two said goodbye and as Bella climbed into her truck, Ember glanced over to see the rest of the Cullens climbing into the Volvo. Edward's absence only pushed her to head back into the gym and start stretching, being mindful of the cuts and bruises she still had. It would be a week or two until they were healed.

Once she was done stretching, she plugged her phone into a speaker and played some music. Again, she let herself get lost in the music and the movements. It was just her and Debussy. She was still broken, but the music was helping to hold her together. As long as it was playing, she didn't have to think about consequences or pain or anything else. She was free.

It was something she'd often wish for while lying on the roof of some random building and watching the birds fly across the sky. They weren't bound by gravity. Not really. They could escape whenever. That was why she even started moving around via rooftop. To be closer to them and further from everyone who would hurt her.

All too soon the music stopped and after a glance at the clock, she hurried to change and leave the gym. It was already 7:00 and she was late. Panic flooded her and she rushed to change out of her uniform while packing her bag, completely forgetting where she was and more importantly where she wasn't. She was really in for it tonight.

Rushing out into the pouring rain, she was halfway down the street before realization dawned on her, causing her to slow down and breathe. Mark wasn't here. Charlie was waiting for her along with Bella, not some crazed monster, hiding behind the face of a human. Plus, she was completely soaked and freezing at this point. Well, it was her fault for losing track of time.

Once she was calm, she situated her bag a little more comfortably on her shoulder before continuing through the downpour towards Charlie's house. It couldn't be that far, could it? Plus, getting lost shouldn't be a problem since she came from a city much, much larger than Forks. The thought had crossed her mind to call Bella or Charlie for a ride, but she quickly remembered that she didn't have a phone. Not to mention she didn't know their numbers and she wasn't sure if she would magically remember them as she'd been doing with the memories her and Bella shared.

It wasn't until she was completely surrounded by trees that she realized she was lost. She'd been so sure that she was heading the right way. That showed her to not overestimate herself. Now what was she supposed to do? Well, she could start by turning and walking the opposite direction until she ran into civilization, she reasoned, switching her bag to her other shoulder as she sighed.

She was shivering now as she headed back in the direction she'd been walking previously. Why was she always making the wrong decisions? All she ever did was cause trouble for herself and other people. Maybe she should become a social pariah and only speak when spoken to. It would be an efficient way of cutting people out of her life. But that would have to extend to the Cullens as well. The thought saddened her, but she quickly shoved it away with anger and shame. She shouldn't sully their lives with a stain like herself anyways so it was stupid to feel sad about it. It wouldn't end well and she would only cause them problems.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the black Mercedes until it was right beside her. Once she'd noticed it, fear coursed through her and she jumped away, eyes wide. Her first instinct was to run, but just as she was about to, the window rolled down.

When she saw who was in the car she had to force her jaw not to drop. She didn't recognize the woman, but there was no denying that she was a vampire. And not only a vampire, but a Cullen going by the golden eyes staring at her. But she didn't recognize this woman. She had long caramel hair and a pale beautiful heart-shaped face.

"Can I give you a ride?" She asked, her voice a beautiful alto.

It took a moment for Ember to respond she was so startled. "Um, i-it's fine. I'm probably almost home anyway."

Well, THAT was a definite lie since she was still surrounded by trees, but the woman didn't call her on it, but merely looked at her with concern.

"You're Ember, right? The Sheriff's niece?"

Ember bit her lip gently and fought a shiver as she debated on whether or not to answer. She was most probably a Cullen so did she have to worry? This was probably Esme and Edward had spoken quite highly of her. She was apparently a very kind and caring woman. But how much had that changed? Bella had certainly never wound up speaking to Esme in a storm before. What if they'd realized that something wasn't right with her and now they were going to kill her? Plus, how did she know who she was?

A small part of her knew that she was jumping to conclusions, but she also knew that no one had ever really treated her kindly without some ulterior, not so friendly motive beneath it. She wasn't worth that kind of attention. Though she also couldn't outrun the vampire before her. She wouldn't stand a chance.

Her heart accelerated until it was racing in her chest and it took everything in her to keep her expression calm and blank instead of running screaming.

"Please, get in the car. You'll catch a cold standing in the rain like that. Let me give you a ride home." Esme said, pushing the passenger door open. The caring look on the woman's face made Ember want to cry, smile, and be sick all at the same time. There was no way it could be genuine. That was for people who mattered more than she did, who were actually worth the effort of caring about.

She nodded a little and climbed into the car, her hands trembling as she pulled the door shut. The click as the door closed filled her with dread as she realized that she was now trapped in a car with a vampire who could kill her in a second if she felt inclined to do so.

They sat in silence for about ten minutes, Ember throwing confused and slightly surprised glances at the dashboard that told her they were actually travelling at the speed limit. Eventually, the silence got to her and she quickly spoke without really thinking about what she was saying, turning to look at Esme. "You're Edward's mom, right?"

She was terrified, but just sitting there waiting for Esme to kill her only frightened her more. She might as well try to give the woman reasons not to kill her. But what reasons were there?

"Yes." Esme replied warmly after a brief moment, flashing her a brilliant smile. "Do you know him from school?"

Ember nodded slowly, glancing down before sighing and looking up again. "Is he okay? He wasn't in school today and he seemed like he wasn't doing so great yesterday. It's probably none of my business and I'm not going to ask for specifics, but he seemed really angry yesterday. And not the 'Everything's going wrong this morning' or 'I got into a fight with my sister' angry, but the 'something's seriously wrong' angry. Is he doing better?"

She knew why he'd been angry. He was angry with himself for wanting to kill her or anyone for that matter. He really should be angry with her, though. Not himself. No, she knew that he probably wasn't okay, but she was hoping that by asking she could find out if he was gone for good.

"Oh. That's kind of you to ask." Esme said, pulling up in front of Charlie's house. "He'll be fine. He's just visiting some relative's in Alaska. They're having a rough time. He was very worried. Thank you for asking."

Ember's heart sunk at the woman's words and she nodded mutely before climbing out of the car and hurrying up the porch without a glance back. Once she was inside, she hurried upstairs to drop off her bag and change into a pair of leggings and a light blue sweater before heading down and into the kitchen. However, when she got there she didn't know what to do.

She hadn't eaten dinner with them the previous night and she wasn't sure how it usually went with them. Actually, she couldn't think of a time she'd ever eaten dinner with anyone before. She didn't generally eat dinner. Mark usually had her holed up in her room when that time rolled around and the punishment would be severe if she were to disobey. The school provided her breakfast and lunch.

Hesitantly, she hovered by the door leading into the kitchen and simply watched Bella and Charlie for a moment. They seemed to be discussing the Cullens and neither had noticed her yet.

"Dr. Cullen's a great man." Charlie was saying.

"They...the kids...are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

Ember cautiously took a step back when she saw Charlie's angry expression.

"People in this town," he muttered, setting his fork down. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued and Ember shrunk back against the wood of the door frame as he got louder. "We're lucky to have him-lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved here, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might..."

Charlie's voice faded into the background as Ember realized she was trembling. It was irrational for her to be so scared, since she was fairly sure Charlie wouldn't hurt her, but you could never be sure. When people got angry, it could calm down or it could go wrong. What if her presence had changed how he would respond to talk about the Cullens? What if it made him violent? Bella would be the first to experience his rage. The thought was even more terrifying than just his anger. She wanted to throw up.

"How was Ember today?"

Charlie's question and calm tone, caused Ember to snap out of her thoughts and she peered around the corner at the two. He seemed much calmer now and had returned to eating his food.

"She did better today." Bella murmured, glancing up at him. "She didn't go to lunch though and she stayed after to work on some stuff. Actually, she should've been home by now."

Ember glanced at Charlie to see an expression she couldn't quite identify. What was he thinking? Was he going to punish her for being late home? Why hadn't she thought of this before? Well, the sooner she emerged the less trouble she would be in so taking a deep breath and hiding her shaking hands behind her back she walked into the kitchen.

"I'm right here. Sorry, I was just changing into something more comfortable." She flashed a smile at the two and glanced at the food on the table, her stomach squirming in hunger. Yes, she was used to not eating much, but she usually went to lunch and that was generally enough to tide her over for the night.

"What took you so long?" Bella wondered, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she stood and walked over to the microwave.

"I forgot my phone and got lost when I tried to walk home." She answered honestly as Bella set a plate of food on the table, pulling a chair out and motioning for her to sit.

She hesitated for a moment before lowering herself down into the chair and picking up her fork. What if this was a test to see if she knew her place? What if it was a test on her obedience? Either way, she would probably be punished, she realized as she took a small bite, swallowing quickly. A quick glance at Charlie showed her that he didn't seem angry, but rather he was happily eating his meal.

Nothing else was said as they finished eating, Ember glancing at the two she was dining with after every bite. Neither of them got angry or anything. Maybe they were waiting for her to finish?

This theory proved false when after they were finished, Charlie simply cleared the table and went to watch television while Bella started to hand-wash the dishes. Ember sat still in confusion for a moment more before standing and going over to Bella. "I'll finish up."

"You sure?" She asked, biting her lip a little.

Ember nodded. "It's only fair. You cooked."

The brunette relented and retreated upstairs, leaving Ember downstairs doing the dishes. She finished up quickly, double checking to make sure she'd gotten them completely dried and clean before putting them away. Once she was done, she continued to clean the rest of the kitchen, even scrubbing the floors. She only paused when she heard Charlie getting up, but he only went upstairs, presumably going to bed.

When there was nothing left to clean she slowly went upstairs, jumping at every noise, fearing that it would be Charlie or Bella finally coming to punish her. When she got to hers and Bella's bedroom, she found Bella asleep on the bed. Closing the door quietly, she debated whether she should join Bella on the bed. What if she woke and decided to punish her even more for assuming that she was worthy of sleeping on a bed or beside the brunette? No, it was probably safer to sleep on the floor, so with a soft sigh, Ember curled up on the cold, hard floor by the window, keeping her eyes on the bedroom door.

After about an hour where she remained undisturbed, she started to drift off, soon falling into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

The next day, she woke before Bella and quickly dressed for school in a pair of black skinny jeans, her red converse, and a long-sleeved, white blouse. She knew Edward wouldn't be there today. Maybe not ever again. The thought saddened her, but she quickly pushed it away as she shrugged into a black coat. Once she was ready, she sat down and wrote a note telling Bella that she'd walked to school before hurrying downstairs and out the door. The sun was just rising as she headed for the school.

She stopped and asked for directions, being sure to memorize the route so she wouldn't have a repeat of the night before. When she arrived, there were only three cars in the lot and she found that it was more comfortable for her. No prying eyes as there had been yesterday.

She hurried inside and to her first class, dropping into her seat and pulling out a notebook. Flipping it open to a blank page, she idly began doodling, letting the world fall away as she focused on the image she was drawing. She didn't look up until a piece of paper was set on her desk. It was a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights, she realized as she closed her notebook and tucked it into her bag. The quiz was easy enough and class went by fast.

Throughout the morning, people chattered on about trivial things and Ember found herself bored through the rest of her classes. Well, at least she could go to lunch, she thought with relief. Edward wouldn't be there and she wouldn't be forced to sit through dinner as she had the night before. That was an experience she didn't want to repeat. Charlie and Bella had been far too casual and nice. They hadn't punished her and she knew that was part of why she'd left so early for school. She was afraid to face them when the ruse fell.

She entered the cafeteria, keeping a kind smile fixed onto her face as she walked. She couldn't help but glance at the Cullen's table. Once she did, she had to do a double take when she saw that there were five people sitting there instead of the four she'd been expecting. Why was he back already? Esme had made it sound like he would never return. Certainly not the next day.

Now she was faced with a dilemma. She was hungry, but she didn't want to cause him any problems. Then again, she didn't want to deal with the tension filled dinner scene again, even if she were the only one to feel it. What was she thinking? She scolded herself, frowning. She wasn't more important than anyone else. Her wants and needs should come last. It was only right.

With that thought, she turned to leave the cafeteria, only to come face to face with a girl about her age who was snuggled up to a burly guy who was most likely a football player.

"Excuse me." She murmured, trying to brush past the pair, but the girl quickly stopped her, smiling at her with a sickly sweet smile.

"I've actually been wanting to speak with you." She told her, pushing her back a little so she was in her original spot. "I'm Linda. You're Ember, right?"

Ember nodded, putting a polite smile on her face as she looked between the two. "Yeah. Nice to meet you, but I have some stuff that I really need to work on so if you wouldn't mind..."

"Oh, are you talking about collecting notes for being an attention whore?" Linda asked, resting her hands on her hips. Ember stiffened in shock, her smile falling. "I know you're new, sweetie, but I really figured you would've gotten the memo by now. People like _me_ get to talk to people like _them_ ," she motioned towards the Cullen table, her voice rising to echo around the entire cafeteria. "And people like _you_ get to fade into the background like the worthless stains you are. Thought you'd have figured that out since it's the reason your parents couldn't be bothered to keep you."

The scene had probably been provoked by her behavior on her first day. Everyone in the cafeteria was now watching them and Ember glared at the girl before continuing towards the door. This time Linda didn't stop her, but her departure was followed by probably everyone in the cafeteria laughing.

It astounded her how people could be so mean without any real reason behind it. Then again Linda was probably right. Mark certainly hadn't wanted her for anything but a punching bag or entertainment. Edward certainly didn't care, but why should he? She wasn't anything special. Bella was the one for him and Ember just needed to stay out of the way. It wasn't until she'd reached the bathroom that she realized she had tears running down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away.

She needed to get a hold of herself. She'd had to deal with much worse before and she hadn't fallen apart then, so why was she doing so now? She sighed and swiftly made sure there was no sign of her tears before she exited the bathroom, heading for biology.

When she got there, she was glad to see that neither Edward or Bella had arrived yet. Mr. Banner was distributing one microscope and a box of slides to each table. As the other students filed into the class, she tried not to hear the snickers as they saw her, but instead focused on the drawing she'd started earlier. She heard very clearly when the chair next to her moved, but she forced herself to focus on the branches she was drawing. Earlier they'd had soft gentle curves and were full of blooming flowers, but now they were twisted and gnarled.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice from beside her.

The pencil slipped from her fingers as she started at him suddenly speaking to her. She looked up at him quickly before looking to the table to her right, but no one was paying attention. Turning back to him, she noticed that his chair was angled towards her, but he was still sitting as far away from her as possible. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled, but he still managed to look like he'd just finished posing for a photoshoot. His eyes were careful even though the rest of his dazzlingly beautiful face was friendly and open, a slight smile on his flawless lips.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued, though it was obvious. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself on Monday. You must be Ember Matthews."

Why was he talking to her? She wasn't worth his time. He should be talking to Bella and ignoring her. She opened her mouth to respond, but for the first time in her life she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Um, how-how do you know my name?" She stammered, frowning in confusion.

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh. "Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

Ember winced at that information. She hadn't been expecting that.

"I, um, I guess I just expected that people wouldn't really care since Bella was coming." She murmured, shaking her head and looking back down at her drawing. "Sorry. I don't mean to be confusing, I just didn't expect anyone to actually go out of their way to talk to me, let alone remember my name here. Especially after the scene in the cafeteria."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He commented before letting the matter drop. Ember closed her eyes with a sigh before closing her notebook and tucking it into her bag as Mr. Banner started class.

The box of slides were out of order and working as partners they would have to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented while labeling them accordingly. This was all to be done in twenty minutes without the use of a book. Didn't seem like it'd be that hard.

"Get started," Mr. Banner commanded.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward's musical voice asked. Ember turned to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful all she could do was stare at him. What was wrong with her? She'd never reacted like this before towards anyone.

"Or I could start, if you wish." He said quietly, his smile fading.

"No." Ember said, shaking her head and frowning at herself. "I'll go. Sorry."

She snapped the first slide into the microscope and quickly adjusted it to the 40x objective, studying the slide briefly. She was confident in her findings. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" He asked as she was removing the slide, his hand reaching out to catch hers. She immediately froze, fear coursing through her before she reminded herself that he hadn't meant her any harm. His fingers were like ice, she'd expected that. What she hadn't expected was the sting when he touched her. It felt like an electric current had passed between them, sending warmth flooding through her fingers.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back and grabbing the microscope. She watched him as he examined the slide for a shorter time than she had.

"Prophase," he agreed, writing the answer down on their worksheet in neat, elegant script. Once he was done, he switched the slides and peered into the scope. "Anaphase."

He started writing it down as he spoke and Ember reached towards the microscope, not quite sure why she was, but not able to stop herself either. "Do you mind if I look?"

He smirked and pushed the microscope towards her. She really didn't expect him of all people to be wrong, but for some reason she couldn't fathom, she wanted to continue speaking to him. A glance into the microscope proved him right.

She sighed and held her hand out. "Slide three?"

He handed it over, being careful not to touch her skin again. It made her happy, but sad as well. She didn't do well with contact usually, but he intrigued her and she found that she didn't mind terribly when it was him. She fleetingly looked into the scope before looking away and pushing the microscope over to him. "Interphase."

He took a swift peek and then wrote it down.

In this manner, they finished quickly and she was soon left with nothing to do, but try not to make sitting beside her more difficult then it needed to be. She glanced up and was stunned to see that he was staring at her, a look of frustration on his face. Today his eyes were gold rather than black.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Mr. Banner came to a stop in front of their table. "So, Edward, didn't you think that Ember should get a chance with the microscope?"

"Actually, she identified three of the five."

Mr. Banner turned his skeptical eyes on her then. "Have you done this lab before?"

She nodded. "With whitefish blastula, yes."

"Were you in an advanced placement program?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He turned and walked away, mumbling something as he went. What it was she had no idea. Sighing, she looked down at the desk, glancing at Edward's clenched fists.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" She asked, biting her lip and peeking over at him, not sure how he would react. He'd introduced himself and they'd finished the lab. How much more did she really think he'd want to endure from her? She was probably boring him with her answers.

He frowned, glancing at her with furrowed brows. He seemed confused.

Obviously, she'd been right to assume that he wouldn't wish to speak with her beyond the required amount. It had been stupid of her to expect anything else. Who in their right mind would want to talk to her? Most likely he'd seen what had happened in the cafeteria and pegged her as the outcast type. Someone who was not to be dealt with unless completely unavoidable.

"Sorry." She murmured, brushing her brunette locks behind her ear. "I'll be quiet and let you..do your thing."

He seemed to study her curiously for a moment before he spoke. "We don't often get more than rain here so it can be nice to have a change."

She glanced up at him in shock that he had actually answered her question. She'd given him an out, why didn't he take it? Was he planning something? If so, what? Plus, why would he bother?

"That's understandable." Capturing her bottom lip with her teeth, she cautiously asked her next question. "How are your relatives doing?"

"They're fine. It was a bit of a false alarm." He responded, his eyes guarded as he turned away from her.

"Oh. Well, that's good to hear." She murmured, glancing down at the table. Inside she was admonishing herself for even mentioning it. What was the point? She knew why he'd gone to Alaska. She knew that Esme had lied to her. So what was she hoping to gain by inquiring things she already knew the answer to?

"Why did you come here?" He demanded, his tone causing her eyes to snap to his as her heart skipped a beat.

"It's...hard to explain. Complicated." Her words came out a bit rushed, the way she'd respond to Mark when he demanded answers out of her in that manner.

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

This was exactly what she didn't want people asking. She wasn't sure how to answer that question without lying and that was one thing she didn't want to do to him. All her life she'd spent lying to people and she hated it, but at the same time how would he react if she told him the truth? He'd probably see her for the worthless girl she was and he'd do what he should have already been doing. He'd ignore her and pretend she didn't exist.

"I, uh, got into a fight with my dad."

"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"The day right before I came here, actually. He...wasn't very happy with me." Her tone was sad as she thought about what had transpired between her and Mark. She'd often wished that he could be like a proper father to her.

"What was the fight about?" He wondered, his tone still kind.

She made the mistake of looking up into his eyes and answered without thinking. "His car was ruined and he thought that I did it."

She couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at her with penetrating eyes, as if what happened to her was actually important. This made her want to tell him even more.

"And he sent you here to live with Chief Swan and Bella." He surmised, frowning a little with confusion. Was that anger in his eyes? Disapproval? It would make sense. He probably wished that she'd never darkened his doorstep by coming here. Never done anything to have wound up here.

"No. He didn't send me here." That was one thing she was positive about. She didn't offer anymore on the subject.

"I don't understand," Edward admitted, his eyebrows knitting together and a look of frustration growing on his face.

Ember sighed, knowing she should just end her story there, but something compelled her to continue speaking.

"Mark," just saying his name caused her to have to pause as her throat closed up, her stomach clenching with unease. "...he isn't the type to handle his problems by sending them away. He...has a more direct approach."

"You're unhappy." He pointed out.

"And?" She asked, making eye contact with him. It set her on edge to do such a thing, but something inside her made her do it anyways.

"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, though his eyes were still intent on her.

She forced a smile as she looked down at the desk. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I _have_ heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.

"And that's what brought me here." She insisted softly, wondering why he was still paying her any attention.

"You put on a good show," he said slowly, his eyes appraising. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

For a second, she felt her walls come down and though she knew she should deny it, she simply looked away, hoping he hadn't seen her momentary lapse in control.

"Am I wrong?"

She tried to ignore him, her eyes closing as she fought the emotions threatening to overwhelm her. No one had ever gotten anywhere close to slipping past her defenses to the real her. No one had ever cared to and now that someone had, it was someone who couldn't possibly want anything to do with her.

"I didn't think so." He murmured, his tone smug.

Her eyes snapped open and she turned to look at him. "Why does it matter to you?"

"That's a very good question," he muttered, quietly. When he didn't say anything else, she sighed and turned to look at the blackboard.

"Am I annoying you?" He sounded amused.

She glanced at him quickly, meeting his eyes again. "You're worried about annoying me?" She laughed humorlessly. "I would think that I should be the one asking you that question."

"I don't follow." He admitted, frowning.

She sighed and looked down at the lab table again. It was incomprehensible to her how this beautiful boy had gotten her to say so much on something she'd never spoken to anyone about. Even if it was all vague. He'd seemed so engrossed in their conversation, but now she wondered if it had all been forced. He was once again leaning away from her, his hands clenched into fists. She was just causing him pain by being there.

When the bell rang, Edward left as swiftly and gracefully as he had on Monday. Sadness pooled in her stomach and she quickly grabbed her bag and left the room, heading for gym. She'd expected to still be playing volleyball, but Coach Clapp had changed it to dodge-ball instead. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for her, but today she was picked last for teams and once the game started the rules seemed to have changed. No one but Bella seemed entirely intent on actually winning the game, but rather everyone lobbed their balls at her. Even people on her own team.

The game turned into a brutal attack in no time at all. For the first few minutes, she managed to hold her own, but as soon as the Coach had to leave the gym - needing to speak with Bella about her poor participation probably - everyone grabbed a ball and chucked it at her. She managed to dodge a few, but pretty soon she was hit. Now, normally this wouldn't be too much of a problem either, but all of the balls had just been filled with air before the period and literally everyone was pounding her with them. As soon as one bounced off of her, someone would pick it up and throw it back with as much strength as they could muster.

When several of the balls hit her bruised side, she couldn't stop the pained cry as she collapsed to the ground in a ball, clutching her side. No one seemed to care and they all just kept throwing them at her. Curling up as tightly as she could, she did her best to cover her face and her sore side. The students didn't stop until they heard the gym door open and then they all played the innocent little children.

Bella quickly hurried to her side, glaring at everyone else in the gym. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Ember snapped, getting to her feet and fighting the urge to hold her side as pain rippled through her. It might seem ridiculous and wimpy of her to be so broken about getting pummeled by dodge-balls, but add that on top of all of her bruises and it equaled a lot of unpleasantness.

She instantly regretted her harsh tone as Bella looked first hurt and then angry before she headed off to rejoin the game, not even giving her a chance to apologize.

Coach Clapp came over then and instructed everyone to return to the game while advising her to go to the nurse's office. She frowned at him, but went to the locker room and changed. A glance at her side showed that it was completely red and she was fairly sure that it would be dark blue and purple later.

Sighing, she swiftly left the gym, going to sit on the curb in the misting rain rather than going to the nurse's office. It was unecessary for her to go. They probably wouldn't care anyways. Why should they? It would be unfair to ask someone to care about a waste of space that always messed everything up and caused problems.

Shaking her head free of these thoughts, she laid back on the sidewalk and just stared up at the clouds. She wanted to be up there or as close as she could get to being up there. What was the tallest building in this rainy town anyways? Was there a building in this town that was more than one storey?

Ember sighed softly, letting her eyes slip closed. It felt nice, the cold rain on her face. Almost as if the sky were crying with her, feeling her pain. For a few moments, she was able to sit there quietly and just think about the clouds and being free, but the images that haunted her when she closed her eyes made their appearance eventually. She was assaulted by all of the horrible things Mark had done or said to her. New ones quickly joined the old and she found herself remembering the catastrophe of a dodge-ball game and the confrontation in the cafeteria.

Swiftly sitting up, she snapped her eyes open. She didn't want to think about any of it anymore. Frowning, she pulled her new phone out, putting her music on random, tucking the small device into her pocket and standing. When she started her dance, her movements were hesitant, slow and jerky due to the pain that was still rippling through her body, but as she allowed the music to envelop her, the motions became more fluid as she danced around the parking lot. She barely noticed when she started singing along with Evanescence's Bring Me to Life, rolling out of a leap.

It wasn't until the song ended that she noticed the violent music sounding through the parking lot or the feeling of being watched. Slowly, she straightened up, turning off her phone and looking around the parking lot. Her eyes landed on the silver Volvo and she was surprised to see Edward sitting there, watching her. When her eyes connected with his, he simply stared and no matter how nervous it made her she couldn't look away.

The bell shrilled and she jumped, the sounds of the world flooding back in. She quickly looked away from Edward as students began filing out of the gym doors. Refusing to look back at him, she headed back to the sidewalk to grab her bag, only to have it kicked away as she bent to grab it. "Watch where you're going, freak."

Glancing up, she saw that Linda was back and her boyfriend was right behind her. She sighed, straightening up and moving to grab her bag from where it was, now ten feet from where it had previously been. Surprisingly, the girl let her, but stepped in front of her when she attempted to go to Bella's truck.

"You haven't apologized yet." Linda said sweetly, smiling at Ember.

"And what am I meant to apologize for exactly?"

Linda replied coolly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "For speaking to the Cullens, for existing. The list goes on."

Ember nodded slowly, tilting her head to the side. "I'll be sure to put that on my bucket list. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry."

She tried to walk around them, but just as it had been in the cafeteria, the blonde was not easily deterred. Linda stepped in front of her with a glare. "You think you can just waltz in here and do whatever you want, huh? That isn't how it works."

"What are you even talking about?" Ember asked with a sigh, readjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"You getting out of Gym class like that." Linda said bluntly, resting her hands on her hips. "You think you can just cry and have all of the teachers be sympathetic to you. Let you out of class. What makes you think you're so special? You are nothing but desperate for attention. Your parents got so tired of it that they got rid of you, after all. I would say that's a sign, sweetie. In fact, they probably hated you so much that your bath toys were an iron and a toaster."

Ember grit her teeth as she listened to Linda, but forced her face to remain blank for the most part. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm sure that you're just deflecting whatever troubles or problems you've had today, but everyone has problems so maybe you shouldn't be-"

"You must have a very low opinion of people if you think they're your equals." Linda cut in, crossing her arms and smirking at Ember. "I'm sorry you've been living with such a delusion this entire time."

Ember glanced down, fighting back the tears that wanted to burst forth. Linda's words were true. She wasn't an equal to anyone. Maybe she should follow the girl's advice. She took a deep breath and looked back up to Linda. "Okay, you've made your point. Now, please-"

"Ember, is this excuse for a human being bothering you?" A soft unfamiliar voice that sounded like a harp cut her off. Ember looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see that it was Rosalie of all people defending her. Alice, Emmett and Jasper were standing with her.

"Um-"

"Excuse me?" Linda's voice had gone up a few octaves and Ember turned to stare at the girl. "You're defending _her_? I'm saying this as politely as possible, but I really think you're losing your touch Rosalie. If you think for a single second that this waste of space is worth defending, then you need some serious help."

"Come on, Ember. People like her really aren't worth your time until they grow up some." Alice said, her voice like bells as she smiled kindly at Ember.

Ember allowed the two vampires to lead her around Linda and her boyfriend with Jasper and Emmett following behind, but she couldn't help being nervous. Her heart beat faster as they led her over to their car.

"Thanks for standing up for me, but Bella's probably..." She trailed off as she turned and looked around the parking lot. Bella's truck was nowhere in sight. "Probably home by now."

"We can give you a ride." Edward's velvety voice reached her ears and she slowly turned to stare at him. He was leaning against the Volvo and a glance down to his hands showed that they were clenched into tight fists, but he had the crooked smile from earlier on his face.

She bit her lip as she thought about it. In all likelihood, he might lose control on the way to her house and she didn't know if his siblings would stop him or help him. She could die if she accepted his offer. And yet, something inside her wanted to accept the offer, no matter what it meant for her. "You're sure it isn't a problem for you?"

He hesitated a moment before answering with a nod. "Positive."

Opening the passenger side door, he motioned for her to get in. She smiled and climbed in, giving a soft thank you as she brushed by him. He closed the door and all of the other's climbed in the back while he took the driver's seat, pulling out and exiting the parking lot.

No one said anything as Edward drove and it took every ounce of control that she had to stop herself from shifting awkwardly in her seat. They were not nearly as good at playing human as they thought or maybe they just didn't like her enough to talk to her. But then why did they stand up for her? What did they want? Maybe they were going to kill her and they just wanted to get on with it.

This thought had her heart rate rising and for a moment she was sure she would start hyperventilating, but soon a feeling of calm ease filled her. At first she was confused, but then she remembered Jasper. She forced herself not to turn and look at him.

A loud crack sounded through the car and she startled a little, looking over at Edward. His hands were gripping the steering wheel tight enough that his knuckles would probably be broken if he'd been human. As it was, she wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't just broken the steering wheel.

"So, what are your plans for when you get home, Ember?" Alice asked from the backseat.

Ember turned to look at her, thankful for the distraction. She knew it wasn't fair, but she didn't want them to know that she knew yet. They'd leave or kill her. "I don't really have any plans. I'll probably clean, though. Maybe go for a walk. What about you? It's Alice, right?"

Alice beamed and nodded. "I'm going to design."

"Oh, you design clothes? That's so cool. You should-" She cut herself off quickly with a frown.

Alice looked on with curiosity, tilting her head to the side. "I should what?"

"Never mind." She murmured, turning back to the front. What was wrong with her? They were giving her a ride or taking her somewhere to kill her. Either way she shouldn't be getting friendly with them.

"If you want, I can bring some of my designs to school and show you sometime." Alice offered, her tone bright and excited. Ember nodded as they pulled up to her-Charlie's house, glad that she wouldn't have to respond.

She quickly climbed out, glancing back and noticing that Edward had opened his door. Confused by this action, she frowned, but then quickly forced a smile on her face. "Thanks. For the ride and the help with Linda."

"No problem." Alice chimed, slipping out of the car. She must usually sit up front, Ember reasoned, guilt filling her when she realized that she'd probably stolen the pixie like girl's seat. Then Alice did something that not only confused, but also slightly terrified Ember.

She embraced her. It was brief, but Ember couldn't help but worry that the girl was going to do something else. What if this was all a ruse and the girl was going to kill her? Maybe she was going to snap her neck or her spine. Would they really do that right outside the Sheriff's house?

"See you in school tomorrow." With that Alice climbed into the Volvo and they drove away. Turning around, Ember saw that Bella's truck was in fact in the driveway and with a sigh she headed into Charlie's house. They would probably punish her now, not only for last night's crime, but for her harshness towards Bella in gym.

Swallowing down her nerves, she slowly walked into the house, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. Charlie wasn't home yet but she was sure that Bella was. Silently listening, she could hear the distinct sound of the shower running from upstairs. Was the girl waiting for Charlie to get home? She wondered, wringing her hands together as she walked into the kitchen. Nothing had been started for dinner yet. Maybe if she made dinner, her punishment would be lessened.

Desperately hoping the idea would prove to be true, she set quickly to making lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and a half chocolate-half vanilla cake with ice cream in the middle. Hopefully, it would be enough to make them go easy on her. Maybe she'd only get a couple of smacks rather than a full on beating.

Once there was nothing to do but wait, she started cleaning. She was able to deep clean the living room before dinner was ready. It had been about an hour since she'd heard the shower running, but she was assuming that Bella had retreated to her room.

By the time Charlie got home and Bella came stumbling down the stairs, dinner was ready, the table set and two plates of food served for Bella and her father. When the two entered the kitchen, Ember fought the urge to run and hide, waiting to see what their reaction would be.

"Wow, Em." Charlie muttered, sitting down as she pulled a chair out for him and Bella, flinching at the nickname though thankfully Bella and Charlie didn't notice. "This looks great."

"I also made a cake for dessert." She murmured, keeping her expression neutral as they both started eating.

After a second of her standing by the stove, Bella looked up at her. "Where's your food and why are you standing there watching us eat?"

"I had a big lunch." She responded, not making eye contact as she shifted towards the stairs up to the room she and Bella shared. "I'm not hungry."

"You weren't at lunch." Bella commented in a confused tone, getting Charlie's attention.

The fear she felt in their presence intensified as the attention of both of them was focused on her. She forced a casual smile on her face. "I got it early on and ate outside. I actually have a lot of homework to do, you guys don't mind if I retire for the night, do you?"

They both shook their heads, though they looked slightly concerned. She smiled reassuringly and walked slowly up the stairs until they couldn't see her, then she practically ran up them and into the bathroom. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation. They hadn't tried to punish her or anything. What did they want? It was a new torture probably. She was left in suspense, worrying about when the ruse would fall. They would probably attack once she got comfortable around them.

She waited until she was sure they'd finished their meal before she hurried downstairs, gathering up the dishes from dinner and dessert and placing them in the sink before Bella could. "I've got it."

Bella looked like she wanted to argue, but after a shared look with Charlie the two of them went into the living room. The sounds of their hushed conversation put her even more on edge than she'd been before. What were they talking about?

As she had last night, she cleaned until she heard them go up to bed. By the time Bella went to sleep it was nine and Ember was just finishing up the bathroom. Another hour passed before Charlie retired and Ember spent that time cleaning Bella's truck and putting snow chains on it, having noticed that snow was indeed falling again.

Once she got into the room, she saw that Bella was sleeping peacefully and again she curled up on the ground by the window. She briefly wondered if Edward would come in to watch her, but why would he? She was nothing special and so many things had already been so different. There was no reason to think that anything was the same as in the book. By the time Ember fell asleep, it was three in the morning and she was exhausted.


	3. Decisions

Ember opened her eyes in the morning, fighting the urge to go back to sleep.

Sitting up, she shivered. It was freezing! A glance out the window showed that the snow and rain had frozen solid, turning the driveway into a very slippery ice slick. She jumped when she heard Bella mumbling, but a quick peek behind her showed that the girl was still deep in slumber.

Charlie had already left for work by the time Ember got downstairs. She found herself reveling in the brief moment of peace and quiet where it was just her. No one else. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she grabbed her bag from the foot of the stairs, hoping to get out the door before Bella woke.

Her hope was short lived.

"Don't you want a ride?" Bella's voice held a hint of anger in it and Ember had to force herself to turn and face the girl, carefully keeping her face blank and trying not to shake with fear. "Or were you just gonna run off again?"

"I didn't want to wake you." Ember murmured quietly, tilting her head down and moving her eyes from Bella's.

"Well, I have school as well, so..Why didn't you just tell me what was going on?"

Ember glanced up briefly in confusion. What could the girl possibly be talking about? Did she know about Edward? About Mark? She paled at the second thought. That couldn't happen. Not ever. "What are you talking about Bella?"

Bella stared at her with wide disbelieving eyes before shaking her head. "You know what, whatever. I don't have time for this. We need to get to school."

Ember had to suppress a flinch when the brunette grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to the door. Ember didn't need much more prompting than that. She felt scared and nervous next to Bella because she didn't know what to expect from the girl, but as they neared the faded truck, she felt something else rush through her. It took her a moment to recognize what it was.

She was excited. Strange, she mused, climbing into the passenger side of Bella's truck. The feeling only grew as they got closer to the school. She knew it wasn't the learning environment she was anticipating. It definitely wasn't the many friends she didn't have. It was because of one simple and yet completely selfish and stupid reason.

It was because she would see Edward again.

It wasn't fair to him or his family who she'd already burdened enough by needing a ride home. She should avoid him, especially after her babbling yesterday in class. Her actions had probably only made it worse for him to be so close in her proximity.

When they got out of the truck, Ember briefly noticed Bella walk to the back of the truck, clinging to the side for dear life. This was slightly amusing, but since it wouldn't do to laugh at the girl who would probably punish her shortly, she leaned back against the door and waited.

She frowned when a loud screeching sound filled the air before looking for the source. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was and where it was heading.

Tyler's van was skidding across the ice slicked parking lot and was heading for a collision with Bella's truck. Exactly where Bella was standing.

"No!" Ember shouted, moving without thinking and leaping over to the brunette. She managed to push the girl down, the ice assisting in sliding her away out of harm as Ember grabbed the truck to stop from falling.

She'd always been good at assessing situations and this time was no different as she noticed several things simultaneously. One, Tyler's van was sliding through the parking lot, tires locked and squealing against the brakes. Two, Edward was standing four cars down with a look of horror on his face. She didn't even have time to close her eyes as the van drew close enough for her to see the chips of paint on the side.

Just before she heard the crunch of the vehicle slamming into the side of Bella's truck, something hit her, hard. She didn't even have time to scream as her fear rushed through her. Her head cracked against the icy blacktop, and she felt something solid and cold pinning her to the ground. Before she could even think about struggling, a low curse sounded in her ear, the voice being one impossible not to recognize and instantly making her lie immobile beneath him. He saved her? Why? What did he gain from that? Bella was safe.

She pushed her thoughts away as two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of her, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot away from her face. His hands fit into a deep dent in the van's side.

Then his hands moved so fast, they were a blur. One hand was suddenly gripping under the van, lifting it up, and the other wrapped around her waist and dragged her over, swinging her legs around, until they hit the tire of the tan car.

A moment later she heard the painful sound of the van settling, followed by all the windows shattering in unison, the glass falling to the asphalt. She had just been in that spot. He'd saved her three times and that scared her. What did he want from her that he needed to keep her alive so badly? No one else would've done it. They would probably be grateful to be rid of her. Perhaps he wanted to punish her for causing him and his family distress? It would be right for him to do so. She wouldn't even fight it.

For a long moment, everything was silent. And then the screaming started. She could hear more than one person shouting Bella's name, but more clearly than all the yelling, she could hear Edward's low, frantic voice in her ear.

"Ember? Are you alright?"

She hadn't realized that she'd closed her eyes, but once she did, she slowly blinked them back open, trying to ignore the sudden pounding in her head. The world was spinning quickly and if Edward hadn't been holding her up, she probably would've fallen to the asphalt. As it was that didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Ember? Are you hurt? Did I...?" His voice was more urgent, compelling her to slowly roll her head over to look at him. She barely even noticed his slip up.

For a moment, she just stared into his eyes while letting her head rest against his cold shoulder. His worried expression eventually had her opening her mouth to speak.

The words that slipped from her lips weren't the ones she'd intended. "Why did you do that?"

His eyes rose from anxiously checking her over to meet hers. For once, she didn't feel the instinct to drop her eyes from his. He didn't say anything, just stared at her. As they sat there, she became increasingly aware of his arm around her waist and immediately tried to sit up. This must be excruciating for him, being so close to her. She was so inconsiderate.

"Be careful." He murmured, keeping her pinned to his side with an iron grip. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

She swallowed her fear down as she looked down at the ground, not even struggling against him. Part of her was terrified and nervous, but the other part was stirring with unfamiliar emotions. She almost to be sitting there with him in that manner.

His mention of her head, caused the pain to rush back into her focus. She groaned and leaned her head back on his shoulder. "Ow."

"That's what I thought." He said, his voice sounding like he was suppressing laughter.

"Why did you...?" She trailed off, trying to get her bearings. She needed to be careful here so that he didn't get the wrong idea about her. What if he left? Or decided that he needed to get rid of her to fix the problem that was her? "How did you get over here so fast?"

"I was standing right next to you, Ember." he said, his tone serious again.

Her stomach coiled up and she moved to sit up, this time he let her, and she leaned over onto her hands as she fought nausea. She couldn't lie to him. It wasn't fair. She wouldn't tell him until he told her or it grew to a point where they both pretty much knew that the other knew, but she also wouldn't lie to him. She wouldn't try to hide it too well. For once, she would let someone see the side of her that didn't come out often.

She looked over at his concerned, innocent expression, letting her eyes linger on his gold-coloured ones. She quickly looked back down at the road as the people found them. Some looked terrified and were crying, others looked inconvenienced, and then some looked like they'd just gotten the best bit of gossip ever.

Absently, she noted that someone was taking control of the situation and they were working to get Tyler from the van. He was probably hurt, she realized, glancing up at the van. She tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed her shoulder back down.

"Just stay put for now."

"But Tyler's hurt and it's cold." The last bit slipped out before she could stop it, revealing her discomfort. Unease rippled through her. Why did this keep happening when she was around him? He always made her so vulnerable. The worst part was she didn't know if she hated it or loved it. She glanced up when he chuckled. Was he laughing at her? At her weakness?

"You were over there, by your car."

His expression turned hard and she almost didn't want to continue the conversation. "No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were. I saw you." She looked at him carefully."Why?"

"Trust me." He pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming her senses.

She hesitated, biting her lip gently as she heard sirens. "Promise to tell me everything later?"

Why was she asking for this? She already knew what had happened, she knew he wouldn't tell her. She didn't really deserve him telling her. In fact, he probably wanted rid of the burdensome human.

"Fine." He snapped, abruptly exasperated with her. She'd been right, she had no right to ask that of him. It wasn't fair.

As soon as the EMT's and the teachers managed to get the van moved, they brought the stretchers in and she began to feel wary. Edward vehemently refused his, and she tried to do the same, but the traitor told them that she'd hit her head pretty hard and probably had a concussion. For a moment she considered running, but conceded to get on the stretcher when she realized that it would probably cause more harm than good for her. She was loaded into the ambulance as Edward climbed into the front.

By the time they reached the hospital, she was so nervous and scared, that she was worried she might just throw up. That probably wouldn't go over too well. Just the thought of what punishment might be in store for her if she did that had her clencing her fists and forcing herself to stay still instead of attempting to jump out of a moving vehicle.

She was put into the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds seperated by pastel patterened curtains. A nurse came over and put a thermometer under her tongue and a pressure cuff on her arm. After the nurse walked away, she quickly undid the Velcro straps on the neck brace they'd forced on her and tossed it under the hospital bed. It was unecessary for her to wear it any longer.

It wasn't long until Tyler was wheeled in, apologizing to her, though it sounded forced. It was strange to have someone apologizing to her. He was probably trying to get into Bella's good graces honestly.

"I'm fine." She interjected as he apologized for the fiftieth time. If he didn't mean it then she didn't want him to continue saying it. If she deserved anything after what she was doing to Edward, then it definitely wasn't Tyler or anyone apologizing to her. "Are you alright?"

A nurse came over and started to unravel his soiled bandages, revealing the many shallow slices on his forehead and left cheek as they spoke. The sight of them made her want to cringe and be sick. She was glad when he ignored her and continued speaking.

"I thought I was going to kill her! I was going too fast and I hit the ice wrong..." So that's why he was apologizing. He was sorry for nearly killing Bella and he assumed that Ember herself would be angry with him.

"Well, I made sure you missed her so..." She leaned back on the bed and began rubbing her temples gently, trying to think about anything but where she was.

"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there and then you were gone..."

She rolled her head around so she was looking at Tyler. She could at least get this part right. "Edward pulled me out of the way. We were discussing some Biology homework right before it happened."

He looked confused. "Who?"

"Edward Cullen. He's my lab partner and we were discussing some biology homework. He was standing next to me." She kept careful eye contact the entire time though she was beginning to get dizzy. Only an incompetent liar turned away first.

"Cullen? I didn't see him..." Tyler spoke slowly as he seemed to be thinking about it and for a second worry rushed through her. How much had she messed up? Was he suspicious? "...wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"

"Yeah." She replied, glancing over as one of the nurses came over to her. "He's here somewhere. He didn't even need a stretcher."

She was terrified and grateful when the nurses wheeled her away to get her head X-rayed. She was terrified because the smallest slip up on her part would lead to them finding out what had happened to her prior to her coming to the Twilight Universe. They couldn't know. She told them she was fine and she was right. Mostly. She didn't even have a concussion. Unfortunately, they said that she had to stay until a doctor could talk to her so she was stuck with an apologizing Tyler.

"Look, Tyler I'm fine. You can stop apologizing. If you want to talk to Bella so badly, just talk to her. You don't have to be friends with me to do it." She snapped after the hundredth apology, but she immediately regretted it. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped."

She hoped that would be enough to stop him from getting angry. His expression held some anger, but he settled for ignoring her. Sighing in relief, she let her eyes slip shut. It was better and it was worse. On the one hand, she didn't have to worry about seeing Tyler anymore and it helped lessen the throbbing in her head a little. But on the other, she couldn't see anyone approaching her. It made her vulnerable.

"Is she sleeping?" A musical voice asked. Her eyes flew open.

Edward was standing at the foot of the bed, smirking. She sighed softly and turned away, fear filling her. She had crossed a line earlier and he had every right to punish her for it. Making a split second decision, she decided that she would leave after this hospital visit. It was the best way to stop causing him so many problems. She barely registered Tyler apologizing to Edward as an ache started in her chest. What was that?

"No blood, no foul." Edward's musical tones snapped her from her thoughts and she looked up to see him flash his brilliant teeth before moving to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing her. "So, what's the verdict?"

"There's nothing wrong with me." That was probably the biggest lie she'd ever told. Everything was wrong with her. It hurt to lie to him, but it was necessary. "Out of curiosity, how come you get to roam around freely while we get to sit on these beds like prisoners?"

His brows furrowed and he tilted his head, frowning at her. "Prisoners?"

"I don't like hospitals." She murmured quickly, realizing the strangeness of her statement. "They're too sterile and they symbolize sickness and death."

He seemed to be considering that for a moment, his eyes thoughtful.

"You never answered my question." Once again curiosity got the better of her and she opened her mouth even though she knew she should probably shut up.

"It's all about who you know." He answered, looking back up at her. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."

Then a doctor who could be no other than Carlisle Cullen walked in. She'd expected him to be stunning, but nothing could have really prepared her for seeing him. Once the shock wore away, fear and guilt took its place. What if he was different from the book? What if he didn't want her there? She was messing with his family and she wouldn't blame him if he were to get her out of the way. Hopefully, he wouldn't act too soon though. After all, she would be gone once night came around. She held the secret they tried so hard to keep and she was fully capable of destroying that. One wrong move and she could mess it up. She didn't want to and she would do her best not to, but she couldn't be sure that she wouldn't accidently let something slip.

"So, Miss Matthews, how are you feeling?" Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice.

"I'm fine." She answered, her voice barely more than a whisper.

He looked carefully at her for a moment before moving over to the lightboard on the wall, and turning it on.

"Your X-rays look good," he said. "How's your head? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

She glanced over at Edward, noting his relaxed posture. "I've had worse."

The doctor's fingers probed lightly along her skull and she had to fight the urge to rip herself away from him. What if there was something that would hint at her secret? More guilt swamped her as she thought this. It wasn't fair for her to keep her secret when she'd stolen theirs. However, she couldn't stop the slight wince when his fingers brushed over the spot where her head had met the asphalt.

"Tender?" he asked.

"Not really."

She heard a chuckle and she turned to see Edward giving her a patronizing smile.

"Well, your Uncle is in the waiting room - you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

She glanced fearfully at the doors at his words. She hadn't really seen Charlie since that night at dinner. If she went home with him, then would his ruse finally fall? They would be completely alone. No one to stop him.

"Can't I go back to school?" She almost pleaded, her words coming out too quickly.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

Fat chance that would happen, she thought, frowning. She looked around quickly for a distraction and her eyes landed on Edward. "Is he going back to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," He answered smugly. Was he enjoying her discomfort? Maybe he was anticipating punishing her himself. The thought terrified her and it didn't all at the same time. She deserved it, after all.

"Actually," Carlisle corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."

She frowned. "What for? Is Bella here too?"

"I believe she is with your Uncle."

Without giving much thought to how it might look, she let her head drop into her hands. "No."

They were both going to punish her. It made sense. First, she dares to sit at the same table with them, not only that, but actually dine with them. And then she causes trouble at school and gets sent to the hospital where everything could come unraveled. They would not go easy on her.

"Do you want to stay?" Carlisle wondered, surprise and confusion in his voice.

"No, no!" She insisted, quickly swinging her legs over the side of the bed and hopping down. She staggered and Dr. Cullen caught her. He looked concerned.

"I'm fine." She assured, pulling away too quickly. And then it happened. Her sleeve caught on a piece of machinery by her bed, pulling it down off of her shoulder and revealing one of the worser bruises that had recently turned a deep blue. It was accented by a long, harsh red slash across her shoulder blade that was peeking onto her shoulder.

Her face paled and she quickly pulled her shirt back onto her shoulder. It happened in about a second, but she was sure that with their quick senses the vampires would have noticed. Unless they weren't paying attention, though she was sure Edward was watching her every move. Maybe her hair had blocked it? She could only hope.

She held her breath and waited for one of them to say something.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain." Carlisle suggested, his expression even more concerned than before.

"It really isn't that bad. Honestly, I'm lucky that Edward was standing next to me." She threw a quick glance over at the subject of her statement. His eyes were carefully guarded.

She hoped they got her message. Their secret was safe with her.

"Oh, well, yes," Carlisle agreed, signing her chart with a flourish before going over to Tyler's bed.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to Edward, stopping about two feet from him. "Can I talk to you?"

He took a step back, his jaw clenched.

It was stupid of her, she knew, but she wanted to say goodbye. She didn't deserve it, but she was too selfish to just leave. Also, she could ascertain if he'd actually seen anything.

"Your Uncle's waiting for you," he said through his teeth.

"Yes, I know." She murmured, glancing over at Carlisle and Tyler. "But I really need to speak with you alone. It'll only take a minute."

He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. She didn't bother trying to keep up, just trailed behind him. Once they'd gotten a decent distance away, he turned, glaring at her coldly. "What do you want?"

"I owe you an explanation." She started, swallowing back her fear as she made her second split decision of the day.

This seemed to throw him for a moment. He frowned at her in confusion. "What?"

"I haven't been entirely honest with you." She paused, taking a deep, calming breath. "About what I saw-"

"Ember, you hit your head, you don't know what you saw." He interrupted, his tone cutting.

She flinched back, her eyes dropping to the ground. "You aren't making this any easier. There's nothing wrong with my head."

He glared. "What do you want from me, Ember?"

"The truth." She didn't mean for the words to slip out. It was true, she wanted him to trust her enough to tell her, even though she already knew, but she didn't deserve his trust.

"What do you _think_ happened?" he snapped.

"Look, I know that you weren't anywhere near me. I know that the van was going to crush both me and you, but it didn't. Your hands even left dents in it and you left a dent in the other car. You aren't even hurt. I _know_ that the van was going to smash my legs, but you held it up and I know that..." She trailed off, her throat closing up around the words she wanted to voice. She couldn't do it.

His face was defensive and tense as he stared at her incredulously.

"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone was mocking.

"I know you did." She answered, though everything in her screamed to let the subject drop.

"Nobody will believe that, you know."

"I'm not going to tell anybody." She said with as much sincerity as she could. She meant it and she needed him to know that she meant it.

Surprise flitted across his face. "Then why does it matter?"

"It matters to me." She whispered, hating herself for her weakness as she continued talking in the manner she was. She shouldn't be questioning him or even talking to him. It wasn't her place. He was above her and didn't deserve to be burdened by her presence.

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you." She said quickly, wrapping her arms around her middle.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"I don't need to." She answered, looking down at her feet. "But don't worry. You won't have to bother about me for too much longer."

With that, she turned and started to walk away. She stopped after about five steps, turning back to him. There was one more thing she needed to know. "Why _did_ you even bother?"

He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.

"I don't know," he whispered and then he turned his back and walked off, leaving her for the last time.

It took everything in her not to start crying as she headed to the waiting room. She didn't even know why the thought of leaving hurt so much. When she reached the waiting room, Charlie and Bella rushed over to her, looking more concerned than she'd expected them to. They were good actors.

"I'm fine." She assured them, swallowing back her tears and putting a calm smile on her face. "Nothing's wrong."

"What did the doctor say?"

"Dr. Cullen saw me and he said that I was fine and I could return to school." She sighed, hating how the lie tasted on her tongue.

Charlie led her out to his cruiser and she let Bella sit up front. She expected him to take her to the school, but instead he pulled up to the house. Fear flooded her and she warily got out of the car. "Weren't you going to take me back to school?"

"No way, young lady. You're staying home for the day." Charlie answered, pushing her gently towards the house as Bella shifted beside her, biting her lip. What was she nervous about? She didn't have a right to be nervous, Ember thought angrily at the girl. Instantly, she regretted her harsh thoughts. She deserved whatever she got.

"You'll need to call Renee though. Both of you."

"You told Mom!" Bella demanded, looking appalled.

"Sorry."

Ember followed the brunette into the house and up to her bedroom. She would have to wait till night fell to take off. Once they reached her room, Ember stood awkwardly in the doorway as Bella called Renee, who was in hysterics.

By the time Bella got her calmed down, Ember had moved to sit on the floor by the bed, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. What had she been thinking? She should have left them all well alone. Bella, Charlie, the Cullens. She should have ignored Edward when he'd spoken to her in the Biology room. She should've changed her schedule, done everything possible to avoid him and shut him out. But she'd been too selfish and now she'd ruined everything. All she could do now was hope that Charlie and Bella didn't hurt her so much that she couldn't get up and leave.

"And what about Ember, how is she?"

Her head snapped up when she heard Renee ask about her, obviously not aware of being on speaker phone.

"She's fine. One of the kids at school pushed her out of the way." Bella responded, looking extremely tired. "She hit her head, but the doctor said she's completely okay."

"Oh, thank goodness." Renee sounded relieved. Why she did, Ember didn't know, but it wouldn't matter for too long. "Put her on."

Bella pressed the button on her cell to take it off speaker before handing it to Ember. Nervously, Ember accepted it, careful not to touch the brunette's skin. "Hello?"

"Ember, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Renee's voice was gentle, throwing Ember off. She wasn't on speaker phone, no one but Ember could hear her so why was she being nice?

"I'm fine, like Bella said. Edward pulled me out of the way." She responded, pulling on a strand of her hair. "Are you enjoying your traveling?"

"Yes, me and Phil are having a great time. He's already won five games." Ember could hear the smile as she spoke of her new husband. "What about you? How are you liking Forks? Are they treating you okay? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. It's actually really nice up here. Beautiful." She glanced over at Bella as she spoke to see that the girl had gone to bed. That didn't make sense, wasn't she going to punish her first? "People are treating me...okay."

That was a lie. She was sure that everyone hated her.

"I have to go, sweetie, but I love you. I'm glad that you're okay."

"Yeah, yeah." Ember choked out through the sudden lump in her throat and after a moment Renee hung up. She didn't know how to feel about that. No one had ever said those words to her, at least not that she could remember. She didn't deserve those words. Fighting back tears, she closed Bella's cell and placed it on the bed table before getting ready for bed herself. She thought about cleaning like she usually did, but there was nothing to clean. Also, her head was killing her.

Sighing, she took a quick shower before curling up under the window. She'd meant to just rest her head, but as soon as her head was on her folded arms, she drifted to sleep.

That was the first night she dreamt of Edward Cullen.

 **Hey, guys! So here's the third chapter! Now I probably won't always be so quick to update this. The reason I've been getting these up so quickly is because I already have eight chapters pre-written and have only now just decided to start uploading it. Anyhow, hope you like it! Let me know your thoughts in a review maybe?**


	4. Kindness

In her dream there was nothing but darkness and whispers surrounding her. The only light came from Edward's skin, but he was turned away from her, walking away and leaving her in the darkness. Part of her told her to stay where she was, but as he got further away from her, the whispers got louder. They were cruel, telling her that she didn't belong there. That she should be dead. She was a monster. This was all true, but being the coward that she was, she ran from them. The faster she ran, the further Edward got.

She startled awake as she was shook. At first, she was terrified that it was time for that punishment she'd been waiting for, but a glance up showed that Bella had woken her and the brunette simply wondered why she was sleeping on the floor before forcing her to climb into bed beside her. It was strange and once Bella was asleep, Ember found herself tossing and turning, unable to sleep due to both her head and the unusual sleeping place.

Occasionally, she would think about leaving, but then she'd remember what Renee had said to her, a woman who had no reason to hide behind a ruse, and she couldn't bring herself to go. After that, Edward was in her dreams nearly every night. It was always the same dream.

To say that the month that followed the accident was tense and uneasy would be an understatement. It was almost pure torture.

She constantly worried that the smallest move would cause her to be punished. If she stepped wrong, she would drop her head and wait to be punished. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly so terrified of people lashing out. She'd been scared before, yes, but now she literally got so scared that she worked herself into a panic attack.

It happened with everyone. With Linda, who continued to terrorize her, with her teachers when they asked her a question and she answered wrong, and especially with Bella. Whenever she even got slightly in Bella's way, she would find herself anticipating punishment.

At first people had constantly asked her about what had happened in the parking lot that morning, but they stopped after she responded the same every time she was asked. She told them that her and Edward had been discussing a Biology project and he had pushed her out of the way. Nothing less and nothing more.

She didn't go to lunch and when Biology arrived, Edward would sit as far away as possible and pretend that she didn't exist. During this hour, she would sit as still as possible, breath shallowly and try not to look over at him.

He wished that he hadn't saved her. It was obvious and even though it hurt that he thought that, she couldn't help but agree. Everyone would be better off if she weren't there. Honestly, he probably only saved her because he didn't want to expose his family. If she'd been crushed, there would have been a lot of blood. A lot of temptation for him that he may not have been able to resist.

It didn't seem like he'd noticed the bruise and cut on her shoulder that day in the hospital, or he had and he just didn't care. The thought hurt and made her glad at the same time. It meant that nothing would arise from it. It wouldn't become a problem. But it also meant that he didn't care if she was hurt.

She'd taken to emailing Renee at the woman's request and found that she actually enjoyed speaking to her. Everything new she learned of the woman, made her wonder even more how Renee could possibly care for someone like herself. She was so much better than Ember ever would be. And yet, the woman always ended her emails with those three words that Ember refused to let herself believe: I love you.

It was impossible for them to be true, no one could truly feel that way about her. It didn't make sense for them to. Over the month, Ember worked to put up barriers and hide her vulnerability, much as she had before coming to the Twilight Universe. She'd made herself numb. The only real things she felt were the panic attacks that would hit her variously through out the day.

The event of the girl's choice spring dance was made aware to her in the form of Bella prompting her to go.

"Why?" She wondered as they walked into Biology together. Instinctively, she glanced at the chair beside hers to see Edward focused very intently on his notebook.

"You'll have a lot of fun. You've been so out of it this past month." Bella murmured, looking at her with concern. So that was it. She wasn't keeping appearances very well.

She nodded to show Bella that she understood as she sat beside Edward. She still had no intentions of going, but she would make more of an effort to look normal and happy at school for Bella's sake.

"So, are you going to go then?" Bella wondered, raising her eyebrows.

"No, I was actually planning on going to Seattle. I wanted to check out some dance classes." She answered, smiling softly.

This seemed to appease Bella as Ember hadn't done any dancing the past month. It was a sure sign that she was acting out of the norm. She should've realized. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Mr. Banner started talking and she sighed, opening her eyes.

And Edward was staring at her curiously.

She noticed that his familiarly frustrated eyes were black again as they had been the day they'd met. Surprised, she stared back, expecting him to look away quickly and go back to ignoring her. She hadn't expected the surge of electricity that rushed through her as he continued to gaze with probing intensity into her eyes. Her hands started to shake as she couldn't bring herself to look away.

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question Ember hadn't heard.

"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned back to face Mr. Banner.

As soon as Edward turned, Ember looked down at her book, feeling her careful walls crumble. All it took was a single look from him and everything she'd put up during the long month disappeared. The world rushed back in and she could suddenly hear everyone in the classroom, feel the chill in the air. It nearly sent her spiraling into a panic attack as she realized she was vulnerable again.

She tried very hard to do right by him and not be aware of him for the rest of the hour as she tried to reconstruct her walls, but it was no use. So she settled for making sure he didn't KNOW she was aware of him. When the bell rang at last, she quickly gathered her stuff up, expecting him to leave immediately.

"Ember?" She hated the way her breath shuttered when she heard him speak her name, how familiar his voice sounded to her.

Her expression was wary when she turned to him, not wanting to feel what she knew she would feel when she looked at the perfect features that accented the kind soul he was. His expression was unreadable. He didn't speak.

"What?" She wondered, hating how soft and vulnerable her voice was. "Are you speaking to me again?" She shouldn't want that from him. It was wrong.

His lips twitched as he fought a smile. "No, not really."

"Then what do you want, Edward?" She wondered, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said, his tone sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."

His face was very serious.

"What's better this way?" She asked, after he was silent for a few moments.

"It's better if we're not friends," he explained, carefully. "Trust me."

Well, she already knew that. She wasn't good for him to be around, she would only drag him down. Even though she knew the truth in his words, it still hurt and without thinking she responded with anger in her voice.

"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier." Her voice was almost a hiss and she knew she should calm down, but she couldn't bring herself to. As usual she said too much around him. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."

"Regret?" She'd obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"

"For not just letting that stupid van squish me!" She snapped, hating the hostility she was showing. For the first time in forever there was no barrier on her feelings. She couldn't hide them.

He was silent for a long moment, staring at her in disbelief. Was he really that shocked that she'd figured it out?

When he finally spoke, he sounded furious, causing fear to rise in her chest. "You think I regret saving your life?"

Unable to speak, she nodded, looking down at the ground and waiting for him to punish her for her boldness and harsh words. She'd definitely upset him.

"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.

Fighting tears, she turned sharply and hurried for the door, but unfortunately she caught her boot on the door and dropped all of her books. For a moment, she thought about just leaving them, but it would cause problems for Charlie if he had to replace her books due to her irresponsibility. Breathing shakily, she bent to retrieve them. Edward was there and had already stacked them into a pile. She stared at him in shock, barely noticing when he held them out to her. Why was he helping her after she'd practically yelled at him? She'd overstepped her bounds.

"Th-thank you." She whispered, taking the books and looking down at them.

"You're welcome," he retorted.

As she registered his cold tone, she felt shame fill her. She shouldn't have spoken to him that way. She turned and hurried out of the room, heading to Gym.

Gym was brutal. They'd moved on to basketball and everyone had still been very hostile towards her, taking every chance they got to attempt to harm her with the objects they were playing with. Most of it was probably due to Linda egging them on every period.

Normally she was able to avoid the worst of it by simply being very athletic, and anything that did hit her never really got through her numb shell, but today she was distracted by thoughts of Edward. It didn't make sense why he'd helped her. She'd been so mean and wrong, but he'd been kind. At least in action.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the ball smacked her square in the face. She lost her balance and hit the ground on her back, hard. It took a few moments before she could breathe again. Pushing herself up, she winced at the sharp pain that rippled through her back. She'd definitely had worse, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt, especially now that her walls were down and she was no longer numb. Managing to force herself to her feet, she felt relieved when the Coach concluded the game over.

All the girls headed into the locker room, Bella going over to her and asking if she were alright. She nodded absently as she slowly pulled out a change of clothes.

"Look, Angela needs help with some homework so I'm going to follow her home in my truck. You don't mind finding another ride, do you?" Ember opened her mouth to answer, but the brunette spoke over her. "Great. See you later."

With that she was hurrying out of the locker room before Ember could respond. Ember sighed and proceeded to continue changing. It hurt to think that Bella wasn't as considerate of her as she was of everyone else, whether this was because she didn't care much for Ember or because she considered her to be able to care for herself, didn't make much of a difference. Then again did it matter? Did she deserve people being considerate? No, she didn't, but over the past month without Mark - she shivered in revolt when she thought his name - she'd found she wanted people to care and be considerate and it hurt to know that no one ever would.

Her bruises had healed so she had no qualms about changing her shirt with the few girls that were still in the room. It didn't make her feel even slightly comfortable, but at least she didn't have to worry about them finding out what had happened to her. That was behind her now since the evidence was gone.

Once changed, she hurried outside, trying to ignore her throbbing right cheek. She wasn't bleeding just sore so she didn't pay it much mind. A shadow fell over her and she looked up in surprise. Irritation filled her when she saw who it was. "What do you want now, Linda?"

"I just wanted to know why you weren't the Cullen's favorite anymore." She murmured, casually. "Did they finally get tired of you? I'm not a total waste of space so I thought that I would ask you. I'm writing a paper on loneliness and feeling worthless. So tell me how does it feel to be abandoned? First, your parents don't want you, then the Cullens don't want you. I think we both know why it was like that, but how does it feel?"

Ember shook her head, trying to ignore Linda's words. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with this today, Linda."

Linda ignored her. "Walking home? Where's Bella? Has she decided that you aren't worth her time like everyone else?"

The thought froze her in place. Yes, she was still worried about the brunette turning on her, but she did care for her. She'd grown closer to her the past month and just the thought of the girl abandoning her hurt.

"It didn't even occur to you, did it?" Linda continued, smiling at how she'd affected Ember with her words. "Soon the Sheriff will turn on you and then you'll be out on the streets and no one will want you. I'm surprised that they actually took you in. They would have been better off without you. You're just dragging them down. That's why the Cullen's abandoned you. I mean, Edward definitely realized it. He should've just let that van crush you and all of his problems would have been solved."

Ember flinched back at her words. She'd said pretty much the same thing to him earlier, hadn't she? So why did it hurt so much more when it was coming from Linda?

Linda smiled cruelly at her. "You don't want to talk about him? We could always talk about Bella. You've already ruined pretty much all of her chances at fitting in. She has to drive you around all the time, and you're always getting in the way of her and her friends. You know what you're like? You're like the plague, slowly killing everyone you touch. If anyone ever loved you, they were wrong."

Ember fought back tears as she realized the truth of the statement and pushed past Linda, speed walking away from the school. She wasn't sure what to make of her overly emotional state. Usually, comments like that wouldn't bother her this much, but Edward had managed to pull down all of her walls with just one look. How could he do that? Was she really that weak?

When she got home, she found that Charlie and Bella weren't back yet, so she set to fixing dinner, needing a distraction. She did try to focus on just cooking, but her thoughts kept returning to what Edward had done earlier.

It was such a small thing, picking her books up for her, but no one else would ever do something like that. That was how undeserving of kindness she was. Even the smallest of acts were refused to her. So why was he different? He wasn't interested in her. There was no way that he could be. Was it simply that he was a gentleman? That seemed likely. After all he was brilliant and perfect and beautiful and everything she wasn't. Of course he would be a gentleman, even to the likes of her.

When Bella and Charlie got home, the table was set and she quickly served them before excusing herself saying she'd already eaten and that she had homework to do. Only half of that was a lie. Once up in Bella's room, she laid down on the bed, ignoring the hungry sounds her stomach was making. She would go to lunch tomorrow, she decided with a sigh. She needed to eat, but she would probably throw up if she had to sit through another dinner with Charlie and Bella. It had been too tense and foreign to her.

She hadn't meant to, but she soon fell asleep on Bella's bed. She'd still stuck with sleeping by the window, though Bella usually woke her in the middle of the night and forced her to get in the bed and sleep next to her.

The next morning, Bella was sick so she told Ember that she could borrow her truck, to get to and from school. Ember was slightly nervous as she climbed behind the wheel of the Chevy, but after a few deep breaths she started it up and backed out of the driveway. She knew how to drive, but she'd never driven something this large and powerful. If she hit someone, then they would most likely be seriously injured if not dead and that was if she hit them while they were in their car.

Eventually, she made it to the school where she deliberately parked as far away from the Volvo as she possibly could. She didn't want to deal with Edward at the moment. Just the thought of him being angry at her again made her feel sick. Getting out of the cab, she fumbled with the key and dropped it in a puddle at her feet. As she bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before she could. She jerked upright quickly. Edward Cullen was right next to her, leaning casually on Bella's truck.

She looked at him carefully as he held out the key. After a brief moment, she held her hand out and he dropped the key into her hand.

"Thanks." She muttered, irritation sinking into her tone. Why did he have to show up out of the blue like that? His mood swings were really hard to keep up with and that put her on edge.

"You're welcome." His voice was quiet - velvet, muted.

"I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death." She commented lightly, looking into his now gold eyes.

"I'm not pretending you don't exist." He insisted, his tone casual.

"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?" She didn't entirely know why she was pushing him away, but she couldn't let him get any closer. What Linda had said was right. She was only causing problems for people, him more than anyone else.

Anger flashed in his eyes at her words and she had to work to stamp her fear down. His lips pressed together, all signs of humor gone.

"Ember, you are utterly absurd," he snapped, his low voice cold.

Her breath caught in her throat and she suppressed a flinch. This was how it should be. She shouldn't let him get any closer to her. She hated to do it, but she turned and walked away.

"Wait," he called. She ignored him and continued walking. But he was next to her, easily keeping pace.

"I'm sorry, that was rude," he told her as they walked. "I'm not saying it isn't true, but it was rude to say it, anyway."

"Why won't you leave me alone?" She wondered, very confused about him now. He couldn't be interested in her, he'd already made it clear that he didn't like her, so why was he acting the way he was? Why not avoid her and ignore her like he'd been doing?

"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled, the sound causing warmth to rush through her. Why did she feel so strange around him? She wondered, frowning to herself.

"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" She asked, unsure about his erratic moods.

"You're doing it again," he pointed out.

She bit her lip gently, letting her head fall back a little as she deliberated. What harm could it do? "Fine. What do you want to ask?"

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday - you know, the day of the spring dance-"

"Are you trying to be funny?" She demanded, pushing the hurt at his actions down and turning to stare up at him. He couldn't be serious. No one in their right mind would ask her out unless they were planning to pull a prank on her.

His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please let me finish?"

She bit her lip, and tried to hold in the wave of emotions that wanted to crash over her as she thought about what he might be planning. But that didn't make much sense either. Would he really do that? He was a gentleman and that would make him stand out, wouldn't it? But then why else would he ask her out?

"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day and I was wondering if you wanted a ride," he offered.

That confused her more and she could tell that she was staring blankly up at him. "What?"

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" he repeated, taking a deep breath.

"With who?" she asked, unable to comprehend what he was getting at.

"Myself, obviously." He said slowly, enunciating every syllable.

She blinked, stunned and confused. "Why?"

"Well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest I don't think Bella's truck can make it." He said, his tone casual.

"Bella's truck works just fine, thanks for the concern." She sighed and continued walking, hoping he'd drop it.

"But can her truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched her pace again.

"If it can't, I can always walk." She responded, glancing up at him.

"I'm fairly sure that would be unpleasant," he noted, concern entering his tone. "And definitely not safe."

"Honestly, Edward," She felt a strange thrill go through her as she said his name, and she hated it. "I can't keep up with you. One minute you hate me and the next you don't. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be. And I don't hate you."

"That really doesn't help clear this up," she told him, stopping and looking up at him now that they were under shelter of the cafeteria. She ignored his last statement, too confused about it to pay it much attention at the moment.

"It would be more...prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Ember."

His eyes were intense, his voice smoldering as he uttered his last sentence. She couldn't remember how to breathe, but she wasn't scared. Why was her body reacting in such a strange fashion?

"Will you go to Seattle with me?" he asked, his voice still intense.

Without realizing entirely what she was doing, she nodded.

He smiled briefly before his face became serious again.

"You really _should_ stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."

He turned abruptly and walked back the way they'd come.

What had just happened? She wondered, watching him walk away before turning and heading to class.


	5. Memories and Secrets

**Hey, guys! So I'm super glad that you guys are liking this and there's one thing I would like to say real quick before you continue. First, I would like to say that I'm really grateful that you've all been giving helpful criticism rather than just being mean as some people can be. Thanks so much for the feedback!**

 **Second, I would like to clear something up. So, I got a review telling me that it was a bit hard to read such a negative attitude as Ember has for herself. I want to let you guys know that even though she's got super low self-esteem she is going to grow throughout the story as she learns that people aren't just cruel as those she's grown up with.**

 **So I hope you all continue throughout the really negative parts, something that might help is to keep in mind that she was raised to think that she was worth nothing but being a tool when convenient. I know that it can sometimes seem a bit much with the way she feels about things and how she's so unpredictable about how she'll react to some situations, but it's just part of the process of her learning to live without the atrocities and letting herself be loved. As her and Edward grow closer, she'll start making improvements.**

 **Things will also not be following the series exactly. When I gave Ember her personality, I wasn't actually thinking in terms of how Bella was in the series. As the Cullens get to know Ember more and as she gets more involved with them, then things will start turning out very differently.**

 **Anyhow, so this chapter is kind of heavy. You learn more about some of the things she went through, but there's a few realization moments for Edward. Again, thanks guys! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter even though I put in this long Author's note. Also, can someone maybe send me a screenshot of what the button that inserts a line across the page looks like? I haven't been able to figure it out and I want to make things as not confusing as possible for you guys.**

Ember made her way to English, so preoccupied that she hadn't realized she was late.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Matthews," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone.

She sighed and apologized before taking her seat in the back of the room, waiting for the panic to show itself. But it didn't. She had no reaction, but shame. Normally, she would be working to not have a panic attack. What had changed? Was it because Bella was not here to see it and therefore couldn't punish her as long as she never learned of the tardy? Yes, that must be it.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur as she thought about her conversation with Edward, wondering about his question. What reason did he have for asking her to go to Seattle with him? Was he planning on inviting the whole school to make fun of her for whatever he had planned? He'd seemed sincere though when he'd said that he didn't want to stay away from her, but what did that mean? Was that his way of saying he had feelings for her or was it a friendly thing? She'd never dealt with something like this before. What was she supposed to do?

Perhaps she'd dreamt the whole thing. It would make more sense than him actually having any form of feelings for her. The thought made her slightly frightened by the time she got to the lunch room, sticking with her decision to eat, rather than survive on one meal a day. She wanted to see his face, to see if he was as cold and indifferent as he had been the past month. Or if, by some miracle, she'd actually had that conversation with him earlier.

Disappointment flooded through her as her eyes drifted to his table. The other four were there, but he was absent. Had he gone home? Had he even been there? Was she going crazy? She'd lost what little appetite she had - she grabbed a bottle of lemonade and half a sandwhich. She just wanted to sit down and sulk.

She glanced over as someone scoffed beside her, noting that it was Jessica, Bella's friend. Her lips were turned down in a frown and she was talking to a girl who Ember believed was named Lauren. "Edward Cullen is staring at her again. Wonder why he's sitting alone today."

Ember's head snapped up. She followed Jessica's gaze to see Edward, smiling crookedly staring at her from an empty table from across the cafeteria. Instantly she felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. Once he'd caught her eyes, he lifted one hand and motioned with his index finger for her to join him. As she stared at him in confusion, he winked.

Absently, she registered what Lauren was saying, causing the weight to resettle. "What is his fascination? She's not pretty and she's always trying to get attention. Maybe I should go take her place."

"Why does he want _you_?" Jessica demanded, turning to Ember.

"I don't know." She answered quietly, glancing back over at Edward. "Maybe he wants help with Biology homework."

She could feel the two girls staring after her as she walked over to the table Edward was sitting at. Why was she doing this? It was wrong of her. She should be leaving him alone.

When she reached his table, she stood behind the chair across from him, biting her lip.

"Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling.

Automatically, she sat down, getting lost in his beautiful golden eyes. He was still smiling and she felt the overwhelming urge to reach out and touch him to make sure he didn't disappear. How could this be real?

He seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

"This is...unusual." She murmured, setting her food on the table. "What brought this on?"

"Well..." he paused and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

"Do you actually believe that, Edward?" She wondered, feeling a thrill again when she spoke his name. What was going on with her? Was she sick?

"Yes." He answered, his tone sure.

"You don't see yourself very clearly," she murmured softly, tilting her head to the side. "It's funny actually. Considering."

"Considering what?"

"You generally seem to be pretty good at reading people," she explained, unwrapping her sandwhich and picking at the crust. "Expert at it, really."

"I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you," he muttered, changing the topic.

"They'll survive." She could feel Jessica and Lauren's eyes boring into her back.

"I may not give you back though," he responded, a wicked glint in his eye.

She knew that this should completely terrify her, but all she felt was surprise.

He laughed and she felt her heart skip a beat. Was she seriously ill or something?

"You look worried."

"No," She said, shaking her head. "Surprised, actually...What changed your mind?"

"I told you - I got tired of staying away from you. So I'm giving up." He was still smiling but his beautiful ocher eyes were serious.

"Giving up?" She wondered, frowning.

"Yes - giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now and let the chips fall where they may." His smile faded and a hard edge crept into his tone.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His breathtaking crooked smile returned again.

"I always say too much when I'm talking to you - that's one of my problems."

"I feel that way when I'm talking to you," she responded before she could think about what she was saying. "Like I just did."

"Don't worry," he reassured, though there was curiosity in his eyes. "I don't understand any of it."

"I'm counting on that," she told him, her voice soft as she thought about what would happen if he ever learned about what had happened to her. He'd be disgusted by how pitiful she was. The thought made her want to cry so she quickly changed the topic. "So, in plain English, without a bunch of wordplay...are we friends now...?"

"Friends..." he mused, not seeming to like the idea. If he didn't like the idea then why was he talking to her?

"Or not," she continued, looking down at her sandwhich. "It's okay if you don't want to be friends. Totally cool, though you might need to explain your confusing mindset if that's the case."

He grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you." Behind his smile, the warning was real.

"You say that a lot," she pointed out, trying to ignore the trembling in her stomach.

"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."

"I tried that. You're the one who came up to me this morning, not the other way around," she reminded him, ignoring his insulting comment. It was better than what a lot of people had told her before. "I don't think you seem to realize that I might not be a good friend for _you_. You just assume that you're the only one with dangerous secrets."

He frowned and stared at her in curiosity and caution, opening his mouth. She quickly spoke before he could. "So, as long as I'm being not smart...we'll try to be friends?"

"That sounds about right." He murmured, still frowning in confusion.

She sighed and looked down at her lemonade, pushing the sandwhich away. How could she ever tell him? However, she didn't want to lie to him or have him think so low of himself either. Maybe if he saw how pathetic she was, he could grow to understand himself better.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, curiously.

She looked up into his deep gold eyes, her mind scrambling and then she as usual, said exactly what she didn't want to say.

"I'm trying to figure out if I should tell you MY secret," she frowned, watching him carefully. "I'm also trying to figure you out."

It wasn't exactly a lie. He was very confusing and a great big puzzle to her. His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort. She had to wonder if she'd said something very wrong.

"Are you having any luck with that?" his tone was offhanded.

"Some, but not much at the same time."

He chuckled. "What are your theories?"

She paused, looking back to her lemonade. Should she tell him or wait till they're trip to Seattle? Yes, the trip to Seattle would be better. There would be no one there to eavesdrop or see if he lost control of himself due to his anger. The thought of his reaction caused her heart to clench tightly and her throat to close up.

"Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to the side with an extremely tempting smile. She shook her head. "That's _really_ frustrating, you know."

"Sorry," She murmured, shame filling her as she dropped her eyes to the table. "I don't mean for it to be."

"It's fine." He replied, his eyes curious again before he glanced over her shoulder. After a moment, he snickered.

"What?"

"Your friend seems irritated, she's trying to figure out ways to come between us," he answered before snickering again.

"I don't know who you're talking about, but you're probably wrong," she muttered, not able to believe the idea that anyone would see her as a threat.

"I'm not. Like you said, I'm usally good at reading people."

"Except me, of course."

"Yes. Except for you," his mood shifted again; his eyes turned brooding. "I wonder why that is."

That had been something she'd often wondered while she read the book as well. Only now she wasn't curious about what was wrong with Bella, but rather she was pondering over if she was more wrong than she'd been before or if it was exactly how she'd already been.

She had to look away from the intensity of his stare as she once again forgot to breath. Instead, she focused on opening her lemonade and taking a small sip.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted.

She shook her head, looking at her discarded sandwhich. "Not really. Are you?"

"No, I'm not hungry," he answered, his lips twitching as he fought a smile.

"Can you do me a favor?" She wondered after a brief moment of hesitation, bringing her eyes up to his.

He was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want."

"It's not much. Not really." She assured, biting her lip as she cringed at what she was about to ask. He waited, curious. "I just wanted to ask if you could warn me before you decide that you're done dealing with me. That way I'm prepared."

He looked troubled before he smiled a little. "That sounds fair."

She breathed out a sigh of relief when he didn't get angry. "Thanks."

"Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded.

There were conditions? She wondered, her heart skipping a beat as she slowly looked back up to him. "One."

"Tell me one theory."

"Not that one," she protested, her heart sinking. She didn't want to lie to him, but this wasn't the place to discuss this.

"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," he reminded her.

"And you've broken promises yourself," she shot back, worry knotting in her stomach.

"Just one theory - I won't laugh."

She sighed and shook her head, biting her lip. She couldn't tell him, especially when there was only one theory and it was completely right. He looked down, and then glanced up at her through his long black lashes, his ocher eyes scorching.

"Please?" he breathed out, leaning closer to her.

Again, she lost the ability to breathe, her mind going blank. "What?"

"Please just tell me one little theory," he pleaded, his eyes still staring deeply into her own.

"I once wondered if you were bitten by a radioactive spider," she murmured, suddenly remembering one of her theories when she had been reading the book.

"That's not very creative," he scoffed.

"Yeah, I know."

"You're not even close."

"No biting involved?" She asked, knowing full well that there had been, but wanting to see how he would react.

"Not by a spider."

"But you were bitten?"

"Yes." His tone was dark now, almost cold as it had been the previous day.

"You really don't want me to figure it out, do you?" She couldn't help but ask, holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

"I wish you wouldn't." All playfulness was gone as they spoke.

"Why not?" She asked, struggling to not be crushed with guilt. He didn't want her to know, but she already did.

"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable.

"I see." She murmured, looking at her lemonade and biting her lip.

"Do you?" His face was abruptly severe as if afraid he'd said too much.

"You're dangerous." She concluded, looking up to meet his eyes. By nature he was dangerous, but by choice he wasn't. Her voice dropped to a whisper and she shook her head. "But you aren't bad. I don't believe that you're bad."

"You're wrong." His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down, stealing her bottle lid and spinning it between his fingers. She watched him carefully, pondering her feelings. Why was she so fascinated when she was around him? She didn't feel as scared as she should. Her heart was always working too hard when she was around him and her stomach was usually jumpy. He didn't sicken her though, so what was it? She sighed and looked around the cafeteria, jumping up when she realized she was going to be late for class. One tardy could be brushed off, but two was unacceptable.

"I need to go." She murmured, slinging her bag over her shoulder and biting her lip. Would he get upset if she left without a dismissal? "I can't be late again."

"I'm not going to class today," he said, twirling the lid so fast it was a blur.

She frowned. Why would he not be going to class? She wished she remembered more from the book but as her time here passed by she'd slowly forgotten most of what had happened in the story until it was a blurry haze. Like a long forgotten dream. "Why not?"

"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at her, but his eyes were still troubled.

She bit her lip again, looking down at her feet. "See you later, then. Unless you don't want to see me, of course." Her words came out in a rush and as she said them, she felt chagrin flood her. She quickly turned and left the cafeteria before he could respond to her words.

Once she got to class, she was two minutes late, but thankfully Mr. Banner wasn't yet in the class. She took her seat just in time as the man walked through the door, juggling a few cardboard boxes in his arms while calling the class to order. He put the boxes down on Mike Newton's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.

"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab coat and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists caused Ember to flinch as memories assaulted her. She was no longer hearing what Mr. Banner was saying as her mind was filled with a voice she'd hoped to never hear again.

 _"We're going to find out what your limits are and then we're going to push them." Mark's voice was full of glee as he snapped the pair of gloves onto his hands. She was confused why he had them, but at the moment it didn't really matter to her. The thing that was drawing her full focus were the needles on the side of the table she was strapped to. Usually, he just used his fists, but now it seemed he was getting bored with that._

"...micro-lancet." Mr. Banner's voice drifted back to her and she came back to herself, noticing the biology teacher standing in front of her table as he addressed the rest of the class. He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The sight of the barb caused her stomach to flip and her throat to constrict.

He's using it for the lesson today, nothing else, she reminded herself, trying to suck in a decent breath. Unfortunately, her body wasn't cooperating. She couldn't draw any air and the world slowly started to spin.

"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet..." She was grateful when Mr. Banner followed his words by picking up Mike's finger and jabbing it with the needle rather than forcing that fate on her.

No, she shook her head and closed her eyes as she tried to hear through the ringing in her ears. She could do this, it was just a silly little needle.

She carefully laid her cheek against the cool tabletop, letting her hair fall across her face as she struggled to pull in breaths. It was getting more difficult to keep her mind in the classroom rather than in the basement. One second she was resting her head on the table, the next Mark was shoving needles up her fingernails.

"Ember, are you alright?" Mr. Banner's concerned voice snapped her from the memory of how painful that experience had been. He sounded close to her head.

"I..." She paused and sucked in a small breath. "I already know my bloodtype."

Her voice came out as a whisper and she left her head on the table, afraid to lift it.

"Are you feeling faint?"

She nodded slightly. "Yes, sir."

"Could someone please take Ember to the nurse, please?" he called and for a moment there was silence. "Can you walk?"

"Yes," She managed to whisper, desperate to get out of the room. She only just managed not to scream and thrash around in fear as someone wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her arm over their shoulder.

Upon lifting her head up and standing, she saw that it was Mike. She was almost positive that he was only doing this to get on Bella's good side. He slowly lead her across the campus and once they were out of sight of Building 4, in case Mr. Banner was watching, she stopped. "Please, just let me sit?"

He helped her sit on the sidewalk and she quickly leaned over, letting her cheek rest on the cold cement as she closed her eyes. She was still so dizzy and struggling to suck in air. Her heart was pounding in her chest and the memories she was so desperately pushing away were still threatening to overwhelm her.

"Your breathing doesn't sound right," Mike commented, his voice nervous. She doubled her efforts to control her frantic gasps as images of Mike slamming her face into the sidewalk drifted through her thoughts.

"Ember?" a different voice called and she felt more fear swell in her, causing her breathes to become even more shallow. She was dangerously close to surrendering to the darkness that was reaching for her. What if he smelled Mike's blood and it sent him over the edge? It would ruin him because he'd wind up killing Mike as well and it would expose him and his family. What was she supposed to do?!

"What's wrong - is she hurt?" He sounded closer and he sounded upset. He must be thinking along the same lines and he was rightfully blaming her for the situation they found themselves in. She'd ruined everything, just like she always did!

"I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger," Mike said, his voice stressed. His words brought back memories of what Mark had done to her mind. She could feel herself hovering on the edge of consciousness.

"Ember." Edward's voice was right beside her, the anger completely faded. "Can you hear me?"

She squeezed her eyes tighter and curled into herself, trying to breath normally again. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, but the sound of Edward's voice dimmed Mark's, if only a little.

"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike said. "But she wouldn't go any further."

"I'll take her. You can go back to class." Edward said, distractedly. A moment of silence followed his words and for a moment she thought Mike would argue, but he only sighed before standing, followed by the sound of his footsteps walking away. "Ember, open your eyes."

 _"Ember, open your eyes." Mark ordered, his tone full of anger. Slowly, she opened her tear filled eyes, knowing the consequences if she disobeyed. "I want to see you break, little Em."_

She was pulled from the memory as she was suddenly scooped up off the sidewalk. A terrified mewl escaped through her lips before she could stop it and she quickly lowered her head, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

About a minute passed as Edward carried her before he set her down. Where she was now resting was warmer than before and she could no longer feel the wind or the rain, but she refused to open her eyes. She was afraid that if she opened her eyes then she would find herself back at Mark's. It had always been warm down in the basement after he'd been with her for a while. What if everything she'd lived had just been a dream? A way to escape the torture? The thought drew a terrified sob out of her.

"Ember, please look at me." Edward's soft voice sounded very concerned now and a part of her wanted to open her eyes, but the larger part didn't want to. It could be the end of her time being safe. She would have to say goodbye to Renee who seemed to care more than anyone else ever had before, she'd have to forget about Bella, the sister she never knew she'd wanted, she'd have to say goodbye to Charlie, who'd taken her in despite the circumstances, and worst of all, she'd have to say goodbye to Edward. She'd barely even gotten to know him yet, let alone the rest of his family. Alice, Emmett, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, even Rosalie. She wanted to know all of them, even though it was selfish of her and opening her eyes meant saying goodbye to that.

She flinched back with a soft cry as something cold touched her face.

 _Something cold touched her face and she carefully opened her eyes, only to wish she hadn't. Mark grabbed her eye and held it open with his fingers before the distinct gleam of a knife shone in the darkness. "If you don't do what I say, I'll cut your eye out."_

As soon as she'd flinched back, the cold had disappeared, but she couldn't suppress the panicked sobs as she started shaking. He was really going to do it this time! She knew she should run, but she wouldn't get far without opening her eyes. If she wanted to save herself, she'd have to let Edward go. The thought made her want to throw up and she knew that she would have if she'd eaten more at lunch.

"Ember, I won't hurt you. Please, look at me." Edward coaxed, his voice sounding truly worried. "You're safe, I won't let anyone harm you. Do you trust me?"

Yes, she trusted him. Of course, she did. It was herself that she didn't trust. What if he disappeared? Very slowly she felt something cold touch her arms. This time when she flinched back the cold remained, but started moving up and down her arms, as if someone were rubbing them. Then it dawned on her. The cold that she'd thought was a knife was actually Edward's hands. They would be freezing.

"Ember, please." The effect his terrified voice had on her was instantaneous and she didn't have time to think about her actions. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring at Edward.

"You're still here." She whispered, her voice breaking as she leaned forward into his touch. Now that she knew it was him, she found that there was a strange electric feeling running over her skin. What was that?

"It's alright. You're safe." Edward murmured, keeping up the calming motion. "Try to breathe."

She struggled to do as he said as tears continued to fall. At first it didn't work, but as she focused on the way his hands were moving on her arms she was able to get her breathing closer to normal.

"I'm taking you home." Edward said after another moment of letting her calm herself.

"No, you can't do that." She protested quickly, her heart rate rising again. "I can't ditch class. Charlie and Bella will be upset."

His eyes narrowed for a moment. "You can't stay here in this condition."

"You don't understand! I can't just ditch!" She was starting to panic again. Her breathes coming out in short gasps again.

"Fine. Come with me to the office then and we'll get you checked out. There's no way I'm letting you stay in school like this." His tone left no room for argument as he helped her out of what she now saw was his car. How was she going to explain her reaction to him? She couldn't tell him the truth. He would hate her.

She let him lead her into the office and over to a chair where she slowly sat down, leaning her head back against the wall and focusing on keeping her breathing even as Edward walked over to speak with Mrs. Cope. Without his presence right beside her, she could feel the memories trying to overwhelm her again.

"Ms. Cope?"

"Yes?"

"Ember fainted in Biology and I don't think she feels well enough to go to gym next period. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" His voice was like melting honey but sounded very impatient.

"Do you need to be excused from class too, Edward?" Ms. Cope wondered, her voice dazed.

"No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."

"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Ember," she called over to her. Ember nodded weakly, not having to do too much since she was already exhausted from her emotional rollercoaster from a moment ago.

"Can you walk or do you want me to carry you again?" Edward asked, walking over to her.

"I can walk." She responded, standing carefully. He held the door for her, his smile polite but his eyes concerned. She walked out into the cold, fine mist, lifting her head up slightly as she let the moisture help clean her face of the salty tear tracks.

"Thanks, Edward." She said as he followed her out. "I really lost it there for a moment."

"Anytime." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.

"What are you thinking?" Her voice was soft as she watched him.

He didn't answer right away, instead continued to walk beside her, leading her towards his car. Once there, he leaned against the door and turned to her, speaking in a voice that was calm with underlying fury. "Did Mike hurt you?"

"No!" She quickly protested, not wanting Edward to be angry with Mike. Didn't he already know that though? He was the one who could read minds. "Mike was only trying to help. I'm just not good with needles. They freak me out."

She knew it was a wrong implication on her part and that he would see right through it, but she wasn't ready to let him go yet. Maybe him driving her home was a bad idea. Frowning, she turned and started heading for Bella's truck. She didn't want him to ask anymore questions. Something caught her jacket, yanking her back.

"Where do you think you're going?" He was suddenly outraged and she found herself very confused and trembling a little.

It took her a moment to speak. "I'm going home."

"Didn't you hear me promise to take you home safely? Do you think I'm going to let you drive home in your condition?" His voice was still indignant, but more controlled than just a moment ago.

"What about Bella's truck?" She wondered, glancing back at it. The brunette would be furious if she just left it here.

"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." Edward said, pulling her back towards his car. She was too tired to struggle against him. Somehow she just knew he was going to learn quite a bit about a side of her she'd never revealed before. He let her go when they reached his Volvo and she silently climbed into the passenger side as he settled into the driver's seat. Outside, the rain started to pour down more heavily and she found herself grateful for the good timing.

He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down though it was unnecessary to her. She deserved to be cold. Why was he being nice? Slowly, she relaxed in the car, slowly recognizing the music.

"So, are you going to explain it to me or do I have to drag it out of you?"

Sighing, she turned to look at him. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I think a better question is 'why would you?'" She responded, chuckling humorlessly. "Why do you care? No one has before so why you? Why now?"

"Anyone whose noticed what's going on with you and just dismissed it without care was wrong. Someone hurt you, didn't they? Was it the Sheriff? Bella?" Edward wondered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

She watched him with shock. He was actually pushing the issue. Why? Did he want to rub it in her face? Laugh at her? The thought caused more tears to well up and she turned away from him, struggling to choke down her tears so she could respond.

"No...No it wasn't Bella or Charlie." She slowly choked out, looking out the window and trying to hide the tears in her voice. "It wasn't anyone here."

"Is that the reason you left home?" He questioned, his tone still angry.

Slowly, she pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and focusing on her breaths. Why was it so hard for her to answer him? She opened her mouth to speak, but unsure of her ability to have her tone remain steady, she just settled for nodding, fighting to stay in the car with Edward rather than losing herself in her thoughts. She wasn't prepared for what happened next.

She barely had enough time to register the loud crack that resounded through the car before they were spinning out of control. After a few brief moments of panic, the car lurched to a stop and her knees connected painfully with the dashboard before she fell backwards against her seat.

For a moment, she could do nothing but gasp for air before turning her tear-stained face to look at Edward who was staring out the windshield with murderous eyes, the steering wheel still gripped tightly within his hands though no longer connected to the car.

As soon as she'd fully registered what had just happened, panic flooded her and she fumbled with the door handle. Pulling the handle, she was about to push the door open and flee for safety when a cool, pale hand reached across her and yanked it shut, holding it there. Her tears falling again, she rested her head against the window, trying not to sob or become hysteric.

She never should have told him. It was inevitable that he would act in such a way. He probably felt that she was a terribly, pathetic creature. And in all honesty, she was. She was nothing. He probably thought she was a freak, just like everyone else. Not only that but now there was no way he could deny that there was something different about himself. No one, even someone hyped up on adrenaline, could tear a steering wheel from a car. Not with their bare hands.

That was most likely why he wasn't letting her get out of his car, no matter how much he may want her out, which she was sure was very much at this point. He needed to get rid of the problem now and there was one sure way to do that. He would probably enjoy it if he lusted for her blood as much as it appeared that he did.

"Ember," His velvety voice cut through the silence like a knife and she flinched more towards the door. "Are you afraid?"

"Are the others coming?" She wondered, ignoring his question. "Now that I know? Or are you going to handle me by yourself?"

He didn't say anything and the longer the silence went on, the more sick she felt and he still hadn't let go of the handle. What did his silence mean? Was she right? Was he going to get rid of her? And if so what would he tell Charlie and Bella? Or would they simply leave town?

At that thought even more guilt filled her. They may have to leave because of her! She had never intended for things to happen this way, but that didn't make it any less her fault. All of this was her fault. She should have kept her distance from everyone. The Cullens, especially. She never would've wanted to spend more time with Edward, he may never even have found out about what she knew or what had happened to her. It wouldn't have hurt so much.

No one would know what had happened to her. Bella wouldn't, Renee wouldn't, Charlie wouldn't. All of the people she'd come to care for and they would never know what had happened. But would they care? Probably not.

The thought drew a sob from her and she let her head rest against the window in defeat.

"Ember, look at me." Edward's soft voice was closer than she'd expected and without even thinking about it, she whirled around to look at him. There wasn't a trace of anger on his face, only concern and caution. "What exactly do you think I'm going to do?"

It took her a moment to speak and when she did, she doubted he would've been able to hear if he weren't a vampire. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

At this, he seemed genuinely shocked and horrified. Was he shocked that she would think that? Or was he shocked that she knew what he was going to do? The uncertainty of her situation had her head pounding.

After another long silence, he spoke. "What do you think you know?"

"What'll happen if I answer?" Her voice was still very quiet and she'd dropped her gaze down to her lap, ignoring the door digging into her lower back.

"Depends on how you answer." He responded and she could feel his eyes on her. "However, I won't lay a hand on you. I'm not going to harm you."

She looked up slowly, unsure what to make of his statement. How many times had she'd heard those words before? False promises of safety? How could she be sure he was telling the truth? No one else ever had been when she'd heard those words.

Maybe she shouldn't tell him what she knew. But was that really possible now? She'd made it obvious that she knew something and she really couldn't think up a plausible lie as to what she might know that would also explain her reactions.

But didn't he also deserve to know that she knew? It was, after all, his secret and she'd already pretty much told him hers. Not in great detail or anything, but she only had to say one sentence really and everything would be more or less out on the table between the two of them. He'd dragged a little of her secret from her and now she would let him know that she knew the general secret of his. Wasn't that fair? After all, she never should've known it anyway.

"You're..." She paused, taking a deep breath and looking back down at her lap. "...vampires."

She didn't know what to expect from him, but it certainly wasn't what she was getting. She'd expected him to yell, snap, maybe attack her. However, after a moment of tense silence, he started to quietly chuckle before that escalated into a full blown laugh. Her head whipped up to look at him with confusion. Why was he laughing at her? Is that how pathetic he thought she was? Perhaps he'd been worried about her knowing something else? Or maybe he was just happy to have a confirmation so he could kill her without regret?

At this thought, her heart sped up and Edward abruptly stopped laughing, eyeing her carefully. Well, besides everything else, her blood must be maddening to him with how worked up and stressed all of the events had made her.

Breathing out shakily, she reached behind her to pull the handle and open the door. This time Edward let her. Carefully stepping out, she had to hold onto the door so as to stop herself from collapsing to the ground.

"How did you figure it out?" She startled and spun around as Edward's voice came from right behind her. Losing the support of the car, her legs gave out and she knew she would've faceplanted into the asphalt if Edward hadn't been there to catch her. As soon as she was steady on her feet again, he cautiously let her go, his hands hovering a little as he eyed her.

"A-Are you upset with me?" She wondered, keeping her gaze on her shoes as she leaned against the silver volvo. He certainly didn't seem upset, but she knew that people could be very deceptive with emotions when they wanted to be.

"No." He murmured, his voice soft. "Just surprised and admittedly a little embarrassed. It would seem I'm not as good at keeping a secret as I thought."

At this she couldn't help the laugh that burst from her. It felt foreign to her. Laughing. She honestly couldn't remember when she'd last laughed. It quickly died however as tears threatened again. No way could this be true. He should be punishing her or at the very least getting as far away from her as possible.

"You should get back in the car." Edward's velvet tones interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up at him cautiously. "You might catch a cold if you stay out in the rain much longer. You're already drenched."

Immediately, she dropped into the passenger seat, taking it as an order. Was it an order? Sometimes, people seemed to just suggest things to each other and it was getting harder to tell when someone was issuing her an order that she was meant to follow.

Before she could get too deep in that train of thought, she found Edward crouching down so that he was level with her. He opened his mouth to say something but she quickly spoke before he could, afraid of what he might say. "I already knew. The second I saw you and your siblings, I knew what you were. I can't tell you how I knew, but it wasn't by any fault of your own that I figured it out."

He nodded though he was frowning in confusion. Sighing, he stood and pulled his phone from his pocket, going to dial a number when a black Mercedes came down the street, parking alongside the Volvo. Ember's heart rate immediately rose and her hands began to tremble. She recognized the car as the one that Esme had picked her up in when she'd gotten lost walking home from school.

How would the others react to knowing that she knew their secret? Would THEY be angry even if Edward wasn't?

"Figured you guys could use a ride." Alice said as she hopped out of the car and skipped over to them, smiling widely at Ember. "Me and Jazz will take care of getting the Volvo home."

"Thanks, Alice. Jasper." Edward murmured, tucking his phone into his pocket as Jasper exited the Mercedes and came to stand beside Alice.

Ember expected to be even more frightened as the pair approached but instead she found herself calming. Jasper really did come in handy at times, she mused, carefully standing and following Edward to the other car.

Biting her lip, she glanced back at the other two vampires, a little sad that she would be leaving Jasper's calming presence, but also happy that she'd be alone with Edward. Wait, when did that happen? She wondered, frowning as she climbed into the black car. Not even five minutes ago, she'd been terrified of what he might do to her, but now she was...excited to be alone with him? Was that what she was feeling? Yes, yes she was excited and...overjoyed. He wasn't angry with her. He didn't yell at her or hurt her or even demean her, though she did have to wonder why he was laughing at her before. Or _was_ he laughing at her? He could have been laughing at the situation. After all he had said that he was embarrassed about not being able to keep the secret from her.

"What are you thinking?" Edward's soft murmur broke her from her thoughts and she looked around to see that they were already back in town.

She turned to look at him, leaning back into the seat as exhaustion suddenly flooded her. She answered without thinking. "I was thinking that it was nice for someone to not be angry at me for once."

At her words, his expression seemed to darken before quickly becoming blank. What was that supposed to mean? Did he not like that she was happy about him not being angry? Or was it completely unrelated? Sighing, she looked out the window, too tired to really be hurt by his actions at the moment.

Before she knew it, they were at the Sheriff's house. Sighing, she turned to him. "Thank you. It probably seems very strange with how I was acting earlier, but thank you. No one's ever really been there like that for me."

"Are you still afraid of me?" He wondered, meeting her gaze carefully.

She had to fight the urge to look away, not used to making eye contact with people. "No. I don't think that I was ever really afraid of you." At his confused expression, she continued. "I was more afraid of what I knew I deserved."

At her words, his expression became one of pure fury and she had to resist the urge to flinch away. "Don't ever think that you deserve that. No matter what you do, you didn't deserve what was done to you."

Her mouth dropped open and she knew that she was gapeing at him. Did he actually believe that? He didn't even know what she'd suffered through, what she'd done to deserve the punishments. She wanted to believe him. She really did, but could the world really work so differently than she'd been led to believe? No one had lifted a hand to harm her in the month's she'd been there so far, even when she'd thought she deserved it.

"I have to go." She whispered after a moment's more of silence. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early." He murmured, grinning at her.

"Hunting?" She queried, not really wanting to exit the car and trying to draw the conversation out.

He seemed surprised briefly before shaking it off and nodding. He turned to look her full in the face, his eyes serious. "Will you do something for me this weekend?"

He was actually asking? She frowned at how odd that felt, but nodded carefully, not looking away from him.

"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people that attract accidents like a magnet. So...be careful, all right?" He smiled crookedly and she couldn't help but give a little smile back, nodding in compliance. Sighing, she turned and hopped out of the car and to the pouring rain. "Ember?" She whirled back around to him. "Here. Take this."

He slipped something into her hand before smiling at her. Waving at him a little, she closed the door to the car gently before hurrying up the stairs, looking back to watch him drive away. Looking into her hand, she saw that he'd given her a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

 **As always, let me know your thoughts in a review! Also, if you could let me know if the characters are OOC that'd be great! I know that Bella is, but I was trying to explore how she might be if she'd had a sort of sister throughout her life.**


	6. La Push

As she sat at the kitchen table, trying to concentrate on her math homework, she was really listening for the sound of Bella's truck. It was beginning to worry her that it wasn't there yet and she was beginning to doubt if Edward would be able to make do with his promise that Alice would drop it off after school. Luckily, Bella was still sleeping in her room and didn't even know that Ember was home. It would've been difficult to explain that she'd left the truck in someone else's care. She really was beginning to worry but when she went to peek out the curtain - again - it was there, instantly helping her relax.

She wasn't looking forward to Friday and it more than lived up to her non-expectations. Of course there were the fainting comments. She'd expected that and Jessica and Lauren especially seemed to get a kick out of the story, though Ember was glad to find that Mike hadn't said anything about Edward's involvement. Linda, however, was more harassing then usual. Ember had expected her to be smug but instead she turned out to be angrier.

"So what did Edward want yesterday?" The blonde girl demanded, slamming her hands down on the table that Ember was sitting at in the cafeteria.

Sighing, Ember looked up from the book she was reading to look at the girl. "I don't know."

In fact, she'd kind of forgotten that they'd even had lunch together for a little while.

"You don't know?" Linda scoffed, straightening up and flipping her curls over her shoulder. "I think we both know that that's bullshit. I know what you're doing, you little slut."

Ember sighed, closing her book and getting ready to stand when Linda's boyfriend circled around behind her, bracing his arms on either side of her and effectively keeping her in her seat. Her heart thundered against her rib cage at the close contact and she had to fight the urge to scream and try to flee as memories pushed at the barrier she kept them closed behind.

Linda opened her mouth to continue, but froze in shock as she looked at something behind Ember.

"Is there a problem here?" Jasper's voice was low and threatening and yet it helped calm Ember's racing heart.

Very quickly, Linda's boyfriend's arms disappeared from beside her. "No, man. It's all cool."

"Well, then I guess you won't mind me stealing her for the remainder of lunch." Jasper murmured, glaring at the jock before turning to Ember. "Alice wished to know if you would like to come sit with us?"

Ember glanced over at Alice before nodding, quickly standing and gathering her books in her arms. Jasper motioned for her to go ahead of him and followed her over to the Cullen's table, pulling a chair out for her once they'd arrived.

"Thanks." She murmured, sitting down and glancing at Rosalie and Alice. She knew that she should probably feel a bit awkward and definitely still a bit terrified from what had just happened, but it seemed that Jasper was still helping her as she felt nothing but comfortable at the table of vampires. "It seems you guys keep coming to my rescue."

"It's no problem, really." Rosalie responded, smiling at her a little nervously before she launched into a conversation about fashion, Alice pulling out a book that held several pictures of outfits. These must be the designs that she'd made. For the rest of the lunch period, Ember found herself relaxed and actually enjoying herself. It was a foreign feeling to her, but it wasn't exactly a bad one. She was so comfortable that she didn't even think about the fact that they had to know that she knew and weren't even being weird about it.

That night Ember again opted out of having dinner with Charlie and Bella, though this time she did actually eat something before retreating upstairs for a shower and homework. Ever since lunch, she'd found that she wasn't so nervous or jumpy as she'd expected to be. She still wasn't completely comfortable in the presence of Charlie and Bella, but she also wasn't terrified of them.

As per usual, she cleaned up after dinner, doing the dishes and wiping the kitchen down. Though she found that this time, she had a small smile on her face and she couldn't help but hum quietly to herself.

As she was finishing up, Charlie and Bella came into the kitchen, shifting a little nervously as they watched her.

"Ember, we need to talk." Charlie started and Ember immediately felt panic rising in her. Had she done something wrong? Charlie wasn't usually one for confrontations like this.

"Is everything okay?" She wondered, gripping the plate in her hands tightly.

"That's actually what I was gonna ask you." Charlie continued, a little awkwardly. "Now, I knew that things might be hard when I took you in, but I thought that it would get better over time." He paused, glancing at Bella before leveling Ember with his gaze. "It doesn't seem like it's getting better."

She couldn't help but think the worst, her good mood disappearing. Was he kicking her out? Was he going to send her back to Mark's? That thought alone had her feeling sick to her stomach and she instantly regretted eating anything as it threatened to make a second appearance. It didn't even cross her mind that he couldn't send her to Mark's since she was no longer in the same universe as Mark.

"What do you mean?" Ember forced out, eyeing the two of them. "What are you saying?"

"Well, for starter's you never eat dinner." Bella murmured, staring at Ember with an emotion that she couldn't identify. "You're constantly missing from the cafeteria-"

"Look, I'm fine." Ember interrupted, forcing a reassuring smile on her face. "I just usually get my lunch early and eat outside because I don't like the atmosphere of the cafeteria. And as for dinner, I usually get home before you guys and I eat then, that way I can be sure to get my homework done." They didn't seem to fully believe her so she continued in a placating voice. "However, if it'll make you guys feel better, I guess I could start eating dinner with you guys and attending the cafeteria more often."

Charlie looked like he wanted to say more but couldn't really find anything to say so he just settled for nodding before heading on up to bed. Bella shortly followed his lead while Ember finished cleaning up, the smile falling from her face. She'd have to be more careful so as to remain with a roof over her head.

She also was not at all looking forward to the dinner's she'd promised Charlie. There was no way that she could get out of it, not without getting further punishment for lying, so she would have to deal with being terrified and jumpy the entire meal. Her good mood had completely disappeared now and she didn't stop cleaning until early morning where she promptly went upstairs, curling up under the window and falling into a restless sleep.

When she woke it was still dark out and Bella hadn't yet woken, the brunette sleeping peacefully on her bed. Ember quietly stood, gathering things together for a shower to pass the time. She didn't want Bella to know that she'd slept on the floor again. The girl would only think more amiss since she continually insisted on Ember sleeping on the bed beside her. But would she still desire that? Or perhaps the events of the night before had been due to them realizing how they should treat her. Maybe the brunette would now prefer her to sleep on the ground. Until she learned different, Ember decided that the safe thing to do would be to continue sleeping below the window and be sure to keep up with the housework. Maybe she should go shopping tonight while Bella was out.

A loud rapping on the door startled her out of the half asleep daze she'd been in and she realized with some panic that it was already eight in the morning. It would seem that Bella was awake. Shaking herself out of her stupor, Ember turned off the water, quickly drying before wrapping her robe around herself. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, skirting around a very happy looking Bella and into the bedroom they shared.

She quickly dressed in a black T-Shirt, dark blue jeans and her converse, pulling her hair up into a ponytail before heading downstairs. Charlie's cruiser was already gone and Ember found herself a bit glad about that. If he was gone, then she only needed to worry about Bella right now.

When Bella emerged from the shower a half hour later, Ember had finished making two omelets. Usually, she would've only made the one and then eaten once Bella had left, but since the brunette and Charlie wanted her to eat more, she decided that it couldn't hurt. She was just hoping that she wasn't wrong in her assumption.

"Hey, Em." Bella greeted with a smile, not noticing the way that Ember flinched at the nickname. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept well." She lied, setting Bella's plate on the table. "What about you? You're up rather early."

"I slept pretty good actually." She answered, sitting down and picking up her fork as Ember sat across from her. "It's too nice out to stay sleeping."

Ember nodded and slowly began to eat, shooting glances at Bella when the brunette wasn't looking. She didn't seem upset about eating with her. Did that mean they'd been serious? Or was it just a trap? Were they lulling her into a false sense of security? If they were, they were taking an awful long time about it. Honestly, if she didn't skip so many meals, Ember was sure that she'd be pretty healthy by now. It was a strange feeling for her.

"So what do you think?" Bella's voice provoked her to look up. For a moment, she felt herself panic. How had she completely missed what Bella was saying? She never let down her guard. She couldn't afford to. So what was different?

"Sure, yeah. Sounds good." Ember murmured, hoping that the answer was sufficient and also fearing what she could be answering.

"Cool. We'll head out in a couple of minutes then if you're ready." The brunette said with a large smile as she collected their empty plates and took them to the sink. "You might want to get a coat. It'll be cold."

Was that an order or a suggestion? Ember wondered briefly before sighing and just treating it as an order. This way if she were wrong, she wouldn't be punished for it.

Sprinting upstairs, she grabbed a black hoody, tugged it on and hurried back downstairs where Bella was just finishing putting the plates away. Once done, Bella grinned at her before heading outside with Ember following.

Ember felt sick the entire ride, not entirely sure where they were going. For all she knew, they could be heading to some obscure place where she would be submitted to torture. It wouldn't be too abnormal from what she was used to. Mark would often times try to make it different so she wouldn't get used to the specific type of pain. He said that he liked to hear her scream and if she got used to the pain, it was easier not to.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the Newtons' Olympic Outfitters store, Ember snapped out of her thoughts and surveyed her surroundings, immediately recognizing Mike's Suburban and Tyler's Sentra. What were they doing here? Where was Bella taking her? Nervously, she slipped the rubber band from her hair, shaking her brunette locks around her shoulders and face.

Bella parked and Ember could see the group in front of the Suburban. They were all friends of Bella's from school. There was Eric, Jessica, Angela, two boys who Ember believed were Conner and Ben, Lauren and a few other girls who Ember didn't recognize. Bella and her exited the truck, just as a pink Ford drove up. When Ember saw who was sitting behind the wheel, she found herself wanting to turn and run. It would seem that Linda was involved in whatever Bella was planning, meaning that it couldn't be pleasant in the slightest.

"You came!" Mike called to Bella, shooting Ember a strange look before smiling brightly at Bella. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"

"I told you I was coming," she responded before looking at Ember. "I invited Em along, hope you don't mind."

Ember grimaced at the nickname that Bella seemed to insist on calling her. Was it harmless or was it being used in the same fashion that Mark used it? Ember just couldn't tell. However, she didn't think that she'd ever be okay with the nickname. Especially if it came from an adult male.

"Don't worry about it." Mike said, waving a hand to brush it off though he did look slightly bothered. "We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha."

As Bella and Mike continued to converse, Ember turned her head up to the sky, wishing she could disappear into the clouds as Linda approached the group. Out of the corner of her eye, Ember could see Linda whispering to her friends about something and Ember was pretty sure she could guess what it was if the looks they were shooting her were any indication.

Briefly, Ember heard Mike assure Bella that she could have shotgun and a glance towards Bella showed that this wasn't what she wanted. From the glowers Jessica was now sending her way, Ember thought it safe to assume that that was the reason.

However, it all worked in Bella's favor in the end. Lee had brought two extra people and every seat became necessary. Bella managed to wedge Jessica between her and Mike and Ember wound up seated in the back beside Lauren and Angela. She hadn't really spoken to Angela much, but she knew that the girl was generally a nice person, though how she would act around Ember was still to be seen. Ember was just hoping that it wasn't too terrible.

As they drove, Ember found herself with very conflicting emotions. She was uneasy because they were driving through miles of trees, but she also found herself filled with awe. The trees were beautiful and twice she'd seen a river that was snaking beneath the road. With Mark, generally she wasn't allowed to see much of her surroundings when they went on such road trips. She would usually be blindfolded so there was less chance of her escaping if she thought to try.

Soon they came to a beach with water that was dark gray, even in the sunlight. There wasn't much sand on the shore, but instead thousands of smooth, gray rocks. Despite the lack of color the beach had, it was breathtaking and Ember had never seen anything like it.

As they picked their way down to the beach, Ember couldn't help but smile at her surroundings. There were some sort of logs that were bleached bone white, some were just out of reach of the waves that were breaking against the shore and others were in a pile against the edge of the forest. There was a brisk wind coming off the waves and as she looked up, Ember could see pelicans, seagulls and one lone eagle wheeling around them. The clouds appeared as if they might cover the sun at some point, but for the moment the sun was winning out, shining in it's halo of blue. All in all, it was one of the most beautiful things Ember had ever seen.

Mike lead the way down to a ring of logs that looked like it had been used to make a fire for parties such as theirs before. Eric and who she thought was Ben started gathering sticks to start the fire. As Ember watched them, her uneasiness returned.

Was this Bella's intention? Was the brunette going to burn her? Or was it simply a harmless outing with friends? If she was lucky, the most she would have to deal with was being picked on. Hopefully, she wouldn't witness those flames up close and personal. In an attempt to avoid that, she stayed back from the group a bit, instead looking at all of the rocks that littered the ground.

Before she'd thought them all to be gray, but up close Ember could see that they were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. It was startling and breathtaking.

As the fire started up, Ember quickly glanced over, surprised when she saw that the flames were blue and green. She'd been under the impression that fire was either orange, yellow or even a colorless white. How could something so harmful be so beautiful? It was almost mockingly so.

"The salt does it." Mike explained to Bella, sitting down beside her. "Pretty, isn't it?"

Ember sighed and settled down onto the rocks, playing with a few in her hands while watching the flames crackle up into the sky. This was going down as one of the best mornings of her life.

After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to go up to see tide pools. Ember had heard of them before, but had never had the pleasure of seeing them. She wasn't entirely sure what she would find if she went, though she was excited to find out. Despite the fact that Linda and her boyfriend were going, Ember really wanted to go. However, it didn't appear that Bella shared her wishes, so Ember stayed where she was, disappointment and sadness filling her. Most of the other girls didn't want to hike either, aside from Angela and Jessica. Ember was just about to go back to playing with rocks when Bella stood and headed over to the group.

Ember couldn't help the surge of excitement as she hurried to her feet, joining the pro-hiking group with a bounce in her step. Her excitement faded a little as they entered the woods, the green light of the forest strangely at odds with the adolescent laughter. It was too murky and ominous and only proved to bring back her worries of what Bella and Linda might have planned for her.

The walk wasn't too long and Ember soon found herself on the rocky shore again. It was low tide and a tidal river flowed past them on it's way to the sea. Along it's pebbled banks, Ember could see shallow pools that were teeming with life.

She cautiously moved forward, crouching down to peer into the largest pool. It was spell-binding. There were bouquets of brilliant anemones undulating ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring whatever lived inside them, starfish stuck to the rocks and each other, while one lone black eel with white racing stripes swam back and forth through the pool, probably waiting for the sea to return and take it back into the larger body of water. All of them were beautiful.

Ember couldn't help but reach out one shaky hand and gently stroke a finger across one of the starfish. She was surprised to find that it was soft and not slimy or bumpy as she'd imagined it would be. Curious. The eel fascinated her greatly, but from what she'd heard they were rather dangerous so she respectfully gave it space as she leaped across the pool to another rock. Once safely on the rock, she again dipped her hand into the cold water, this time carefully stroking an anemone. She nearly jerked her hand away when the creatures tentacle like limbs converged on her hand, almost like it was hugging her.

She was completely absorbed by the small pools, no longer even paying much attention to those around her. The only other thing she was thinking about was what Edward would be doing if he were here. Probably not spending time with her, she mused, crossing her legs under her. What if he decided that he didn't want her around anymore? What if spending time away from her was enough to clear up whatever had lured him to spend time with her in the first place?

The thought made her more sad than it should have. It made sense though. He was one of the first people that seemed to actively wish to spend time with her. Of course, the whole thing was pointless anyways. The Cullens weren't allowed to come to La Push. She'd forgotten that along with all of the other things she'd forgotten. At this point, she was pretty much blind to events even though she was sure that she'd read past this point. All of the information had faded from her mind though. Almost as if she'd made the book up. In fact, she found that she couldn't remember anything about it apart from the fact that it had been a book and even that was fuzzy to her.

Shaking her head, she stood, looking around and seeing that everyone was leaving. She was sad to go, but knew that to stray far from Bella could prove disastrous even if the girl wouldn't punish her for this trip. After all, she knew nothing about La Push and even though she was usually good with direction, most of the trees they'd passed had looked the same.

When they got back to the beach, the group they'd left had multiplied. Nervousness grew in Ember again as she slowly approached the group, staying further back as she had before. The newcomers appeared to be teenagers and had shining, straight black hair and copper skin. They must be the Natives, Ember thought, trying to remember what the tribe was actually called.

Food was already being passed around and as the boys hurried to get their share, Eric began introducing people as they entered the circle, pointing them out as he said their names. Angela and Bella were the last to arrive and as Eric mentioned their names, Ember saw a younger boy who was sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at Bella in interest. Did he know her?

Ember glanced between the two for a moment before shrugging and looking back at the rocks below her feet as the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. The boy who had noticed Bella was named Jacob, but other than that, Ember didn't really remember any of the others. After the introductions, Ember turned to wander around a bit more, being sure to remain close to the group, but was stopped by Bella's hand on her arm.

Ember looked over at her with surprise and confusion. The brunette just held a can and a sandwich out to her with a determined look in her eye. "Come sit with us."

Ember nodded carefully, glancing at the others before taking the food from Bella and following her over to the circle where she sat beside her on a log. "Oh, right. Guys, this is my cousin, Ember."

She gave a little wave in greeting before starting on her sandwich, shooting glances over at Bella as she did so. The brunette didn't even glance at her as she silently ate her food. Soon, Ember relaxed and took the time to think. She was thinking about how confusing everything had become. More and more she found herself making mistakes she wouldn't have made before and yet she never got punished as she should be punished. In fact, most people just brushed it off as if nothing had happened. It was strange and Ember found that she didn't quite know what to make of it.

During lunch the clouds started to advance, darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows over the beach and darkening the waves. As they finished eating, people began drifting off in three's and two's. Some went down to the beach to skip rocks, others went to town and then some were getting another expedition to the tide pools together. Ember sighed, taking off her hoody and setting it on the log beside Bella. She didn't want it to get wet and if Bella agreed she would be getting a closer look at the tide pools.

"Bella, do you mind if I go with the others? Back to the tide pools?" She wondered, tugging on the hem of her shirt and biting her lip.

"Yeah, go ahead. You don't have to ask my permission, Em." Bella responded, smiling at her before she returned to watching the flames.

Ember nodded, flinching at the nickname before standing and hurrying after the people who'd left for the tide pools. Once she caught up, she found that some of the local kids had joined them and were leading the way.

Soon, they reached the tide pools again and Ember eagerly hopped across the rocks to reach one of the larger ones that was further out. The tide was a bit higher than before, but she didn't really mind as she settled on her stomach, dipping her hand in the water to pet a sea anemone. This one was a light purple. After a few minutes, she pulled her hand away and as she was doing so, a large claw suddenly closed around her palm.

Crying out in pain and shock, she ripped her hand out of the water. She now saw that it was a giant lobster that had gripped her hand, but it quickly fell off as she stumbled away from the pool. Looking at her hand, she saw that it wasn't bleeding but it would definitely bruise and it didn't feel so great either. She'd definitely had worse, but she hadn't been expecting to have her hand chomped on either and hadn't been prepared for it.

Gritting her teeth, she shook her hand a little, taking a couple of deep breaths before looking around and startling in surprise. Everyone was gone. Did they just leave her? Silently, she scolded herself for that thought as she carefully leaped back across the tide pools. None of them had any obligation to stay behind with her. They all had better things to do.

Once she was back on stable ground, she hurried for the forest, hoping to get back to the group before everyone left. As she walked, it began to rain heavily and she regretted not bringing her hoody with her. It was freezing!

Shivering, she continued forward, not entirely sure where she was going. After about ten minutes of walking, she was soaked and also pretty sure that she was lost. Great, she thought, rubbing her arms in the hopes of warming up, trying to ignore the throbbing burning in her right hand. That was something she didn't want to repeat.

"Bella?" She called out, hoping that she was near the place they'd started their fire and that someone would answer back. No one did.

Her teeth beginning to chatter, she continued forward, sighing in relief when she found the rocky shore. Though, she didn't think that it was the one she'd previously been on. Well, it was a start at least, she thought, glancing out at the waves to see with shock that they were much closer than she'd thought they were. The tide was rising fast! Apparently, things were very different near an ocean than they were in a city.

Not wanting to get caught in the tide, she hurried up the beach, hoping to find a road, but instead she only found more trees. Now what should she do? She wondered, wiping the rain out of her eyes as she continued to shiver.

"Ember!" A voice called from behind her.

She quickly spun around, surprised when she saw Linda and her boyfriend. If she'd recognized her voice sooner, she would've run. Nothing good could come from being alone with Linda, especially with her boyfriend there. One on one with Linda and Ember was pretty sure that she would have a decent shot at winning, but against someone as muscular as Linda's boyfriend, she'd be lucky if she could endure it for more than thirty seconds.

"So, I have a confession to make." Linda started, smiling cruelly at her. "Bella said that she's sick of dealing with you and she wants me and Jack to deal with you. She went home, leaving us with plenty of time."

Ember took a small step back, shooting a glance at Jack and trying to ignore the hurt at the blonde's words. "Plenty of time for what?"

"Well, we saw how intrigued you were with the tide pools and the creatures in them, so I thought that maybe you'd like a closer look at sea life." Linda answered, her face turning into a glare. "See it's twice now that you've made me look bad. I don't know why the Cullen's keep helping you, but after we're done with you, they're never going to look at you again."

As Jack shifted to head for her, Ember turned and took off into the forest, running as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she wasn't faster than Jack and he knew the area much better than she did, quickly catching up to her due to the fact. His arms caught her painfully around the waist and she found herself tackled to the ground.

She opened her mouth to scream, but as he tightened his grip around her rib cage, the sound never made it past her lips. Fear swarmed her and she fought to think a way out of this. But all she could focus on was the feeling of his arms trapping her. Her struggling was pointless and he soon had her thrown over his shoulder, though thankfully this action forced him to relinquish his tight grasp on her and she could breathe easier.

"Put me down!" She cried, pounding her fists on his back. Unfortunately, there was no criminal or person she could hide behind to get out of this situation. "Someone help me!"

She continued to scream, kick and hit as Jack followed Linda through the trees. Soon, they were on a very small cliff that overlooked the water. It was about a twenty foot drop. The fall wouldn't kill her, but the current's might. She knew that much.

"Look, I promise you that I'll do whatever I can to fix whatever's wrong between us, just put me down!" She pleaded as Jack held her over the edge.

"You heard her, Jack." Linda murmured, smirking. "Put her down."

Jack grinned a bit before relinquishing his hold on her and letting her drop. She didn't really have time to scream before she was hitting the icy water. As soon as she could, she started swimming up, fighting against the violent waves that crashed over her. She was still more or less able to get air, but she knew that if the storm continued as it was, it would only get worse and if she didn't get out of the water soon, she would drown.

Treading water to keep her head above the water, Ember looked around for land that she could swim to. She couldn't see any. Her best bet would be to swim around the rock of the cliff face and hope that there was land on the other side. But if there wasn't, she'd be in big trouble. She didn't know what to do and the longer she stayed in the water, the closer she was to getting hypothermia and the colder her limbs got. The colder her limbs got, the harder it was to swim and keep her head above the water.

Before she could think anymore about her decision, it was mostly made for her as she spotted something break the surface of the water. It was a large black fin. Eyes going wide, she struggled to remain calm. It was probably a dolphin. Yeah, it was just a dolphin, she told herself.

As the fin swam towards her, she opened her mouth to call to Linda when whatever the fin belonged to was caught up in a wave. A wave that came crashing down on her.

Not wanting to take the chance, Ember tried to swim out of the way, not really knowing where that was, but hoping that she didn't swim IN the way. Swimming up, she took deep breaths as she broke the surface of the water, looking around for the fin. Where was it?

She quickly turned as something brushed across her back and she almost wished that she hadn't. Her quick motion provoked the creature to lunge up out of the water and she got a nice view of it's rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. Shrieking, she pushed to the side, letting it swim right on past her. Risking a glance up, Ember felt more fear and panic flood her when she saw that Jack and Linda were nowhere to be seen. Would Linda really go so far as to kill her?

She didn't have too much time to dwell on that as the shark moved in for another swipe, barely missing her. The storm was getting worse and while the shark wasn't at much more of a disadvantage, she was running out of advantages. In fact, she didn't know that she had any. Her limbs were getting slower and it was getting harder and harder to take breaths in between waves. Not to mention, the more waves that hit her, the more often she lost sight of the shark that was intent on eating her.

As the shark rushed her again, she dodged, but cried out as it's sharp teeth caught her right shoulder, tearing through it. Momentarily, she found that she couldn't get back above the surface, but with a burst of strength, she managed, gasping in air and trying to shove down her panic upon seeing that the water was red around her. That was most definitely not good. It could be worse, she thought, focusing on the fin that was still circling her. It's only some blood loss and pain, you can deal with that for a while longer. At least there was only one shark.

As soon as she thought that, she wished she hadn't. At first, she thought the shark had perhaps started swimming faster, but soon realized that it had just gained a friend or an enemy, depending on how you looked at it.

She wouldn't last much longer. Already, she doubted her ability to remain above water for much longer, her arm was burning and bleeding, weakening and on top of it, she was slowing down. This wasn't good, by any standards.

She saw the sharks coming for her again just before she lost the fight with her body, her eyes slipping shut as darkness hovered on the edges of her vision.


	7. The Beginnings of Trust

Forcing her eyes open with a gasp, she twisted out of the way of the shark, barely avoiding the second one. After everything she'd been through in her life, she couldn't just give up now. If this was where she would find death, then she would die fighting. Even if she deserved this, she'd never been a good girl. Had never been one to lay down and accept pain.

So with that thought, she pushed herself to swim towards the cliff. Perhaps if she got close enough to the rocks, the sharks would back off. Or if she could climb the cliff face, she could find her stuff and call for help. But would she last that long? She honestly couldn't be sure that she would. Even as she swam, she slowed, her vision blurring. Every time she dodged the hungry sharks, she got closer and closer to being captured in their strong, merciless jaws.

Just when she thought she couldn't go any further, a large wave lifted her up, choking her with water and slamming her into something hard. As if her situation wasn't bad enough. Once the wave had ceased, she was shocked to find herself on hard ground. She could only marvel on that for a moment before she was choking on the water that her body was expelling.

Groaning and biting her lip, she forced herself to her feet, knowing that if she laid down to rest, she wouldn't get back up and with how secluded this area was, she could very well die out here. Not to mention, if a wave was able to deposit her up here, then it would certainly be able to pull her back down. She was shivering uncontrollably now, her teeth chattering and her shoulder beginning to burn with a searing pain.

Shoving the pain to the back of her mind, she started forward, hoping to diminish the bleeding by bringing a hand up to hold the wound, groaning a little as she applied pressure. Her vision didn't improve as she trudged through the trees, the sky had darkened considerably and she could barely see in front of her. The forest around her was gradually growing more ominous and she feared what may be lurking in the darkness.

She was about ready to break down when she burst through the trees and onto a road. By now she knew that it had to be very, very late and she was definitely late making it home. The thought terrified her and looking around, she spotted a sign stating that the beach was a few miles ahead.

Relief flooded her and she headed in the opposite direction of the sign, staggering a little, but managing to right herself. She'd left her phone in her jacket, which she assumed, Bella had in her possession. Unless, of course, the brunette had decided it wasn't worth her time. Which was possible.

Would the girl even worry that she wasn't home yet? Linda had said that she'd gone home after requesting something be done about her troublesome cousin. Would Charlie care or notice? What if no one was looking for her? Enough time had passed, right? Shouldn't they have been searching the woods?

As she entered the civilization of Forks, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. The whole town seemed to be sleeping. Did it matter if anyone came looking for her? Of course not, she admonished herself, not even trying to fight the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks as she shuffled forward. It didn't mean that it hurt any less to know that she wasn't worthy of people worrying over her. She would never reach that level of belonging.

Edward would probably realize that soon as well and steer clear of her once and for all. After all, he'd already learned her secret. There was no longer any mystery for him to solve with her. He knew about what Mark had done. There was nothing she could do about that now. Nothing that would fix anything. However, she could do something about her current situation, the only question was...what should she do?

Linda had claimed that Bella had helped her set this up and Ember herself had suspected something ever since she'd started out that morning, so logically the brunette wouldn't wish anyone to know about this. Then she would have to go to Charlie's, she concluded, heading in that direction after a brief moment of hesitation. She could clean herself up and apply a bandage. After all, she'd done it enough times before since Mark didn't like hospital visits due to all of the attention that it drew. People might get suspicious.

Should she hide the wounds from Charlie and Bella? She wondered as she approached the house, reaching for the doorknob and biting her lip. Or would they prefer to see them? Sighing, she decided that she would hide them at first and then she'd reveal them if asked.

Nodding once, she quietly opened the door, noticing that the house was silent and the lights were off. Had they gone to bed? They truly didn't care, she thought, choking down a sob as her chest tightened painfully, her stomach coiling. Wincing, she shrugged into her jacket, carefully easing her right arm into the sleeve before quietly closing the door.

Wiping the tears from her face, she carefully walked through the front hall, heading for the stairs. Once upstairs, she grabbed a pair of leggings, a black sweater and some new underwear before quietly going into the bathroom and starting a hot bath. Normally, she would've just gone with a shower, but she would warm up faster with a bath and that was imperative to not needing a hospital visit.

She found some gauze in the cabinet and placed it on the counter before stripping out of her clothes and climbing into the water, forcing herself to sit down instead of shying away from the pain of the heat. Her body was freezing and the abrupt change in temperature was rather painful. Leaning back, she carefully submerged her shoulder, biting her lip to keep from crying out at the sting. She was hoping that the water would help clean out the still bleeding wound.

Luckily, she'd only been bitten once, the second one would've been much worse since sharks sampled their food first, making not such a bad wound, though with as fragile as humans were, it still wasn't good.

Normally, the water would have relaxed her, but she found that it only made it more difficult for her to not break down into sobs. In fact, she couldn't stop the tears that fell down her cheeks, accompanied by small whimpers.

Bella had plotted with Linda to kill her. The moment she'd been waiting for had finally come. Bella had dropped her ruse and had effectively punished her. For what, Ember didn't know. How was she supposed to fix her problem? She didn't even know what the problem was! For a long while, she just curled up and cried.

Exhaustion quickly flooded her after she'd cried all of her tears out and she found her head nodding forward as her eyes fluttered shut. Forcing them open, she dragged herself out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her body before setting to tending to the bite. The bleeding had slowed, but was still trickling blood.

After cleaning the wound with peroxide, Ember carefully applied a small amount of pressure until it had stopped bleeding before bandaging it with gauze. Once done, she dressed in the clothes she'd brought with her, quietly leaving the bathroom and going to Bella's room.

A glance at the clock showed that it was nearly four in the morning. She'd been gone all day and then had spent nearly four hours in the tub. When she turned to look at Bella, her tears returned and she fought to stay quiet as she curled up under the window.

Without really thinking about it, she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Edward's number. She didn't realize what she was doing wrong until he picked up. Honestly, she wasn't sure that she'd expected him to pick up in the first place, but now she wasn't sure what to tell him. He knew about what she'd been through, but she was positive that Bella would not want Edward to know the events of what had transpired. What if he promised not to do anything about it? Could she tell him then? No, she thought, turning her face into her elbow.

"Ember?" His voice was confused, concerned and panicked as he responded. After a moment of silence, he continued. "Ember, are you there?"

"Yeah." She managed, her voice barely audible as she fought a wave of new tears. Now she was suddenly afraid. She didn't want to have this conversation right now! What if he told her to leave him alone? What if he had finally realized what was wrong with her? The thought caused a soft sob to break free.

"Ember, what is it? What's wrong?" Edward demanded, his panic growing along with his confusion.

Her first instinct was to deny that anything was wrong, but in that moment she found that she was tired of lying and she didn't want to lie to him. But at the same time she couldn't just tell him. "I just...had a really bad day. You're...you're the only person I could think to call. There's no one else."

"What about Bella and Charlie?" He wondered, still seeming very concerned.

She closed her eyes tightly as realization dawned on her, more tears falling. Of course, she shouldn't have called him! He was busy with Emmett and now she was bothering them! That's all she seemed able to do, cause problems. Of course, he would refer her to someone that was closer. He was busy and she didn't know why she'd thought he'd want to deal with a pest such as herself.

"I'm sorry." She forced out, her voice breaking. "I shouldn't have bothered you."

Before he could respond, she hit the end button, setting the phone down on the floor and burying her face in her arms, sobbing. How stupid she was! Not only had she ruined things with Bella and Charlie, but now she'd also destroyed any chance of friendship with Edward! She shouldn't have called! She knew better than to interrupt people while they were out...or at least she'd used to. She continued to cry until she drifted into a restless sleep.

Ember startled awake at the sound of something clattering to the ground. Completely alert, she looked over to see Bella, sitting wide eyed on the bed with her CD Player lying on the floor. That must've been the clattering she'd heard. The brunette didn't seem to register Ember's sleeping spot as she just plopped back down on the bed, yanking her jeans off and crawling under the cover's, quickly falling asleep again.

A glance at the clock, showed that it was five-thirty and Ember had only slept for an hour and a half. Rubbing her eyes, she grabbed her phone and saw that she had a dozen missed calls from Edward and an unknown number. Frowning, she sat up and her head spun as her blood flowed downward. First things first, she thought, glancing at her arm. She needed to re-clean the wound and make sure it was actually done bleeding. Edward would be back in a few days and he didn't need the scent of her blood driving him more mad than before.

It didn't take her long to re-clean and redress the wound and she soon found herself downstairs. She didn't want to be near Bella right now. The girl had probably been justified in her actions in some manner, but it still hurt and terrified her that the girl could switch so fast. It was proof that it really had just been a ruse. Would Charlie have also dropped the ruse? She thought suddenly, glancing around the kitchen. Or would he continue to be nice? Would he also punish her if the ruse had fallen?

Just the thought of it had her stomach in knots and she quickly headed for the door, grabbing her spare jacket as she went and pocketing her phone. There was no way that she was going to be caught without it again, things could have been a lot worse the night before. She didn't pay much attention to where she was going, just needing to get away and she soon found herself in the trees, Charlie's house and any signs of life invisible. Now it was just her and the jays.

Luckily for her, she saw that there was a small trail that snaked past Sitka spruces and hemlocks. As she walked, she'd hoped to calm down, but the quieter her surroundings got, the less she had to keep her from her thoughts. And the events of the night previous seemed to want to play on a loop before her eyes.

By the time water began to drip from the canopy above, she was sobbing again and could barely see in front of her. She'd actually dared to get comfortable and believe that they meant what they said. She just hadn't let herself admit it and now she was paying the price. Did Renee feel the same way?

At the thought, she dropped down onto a recently fallen tree and brought her knees to her chest, her body shaking with her sobs. Renee had been the only person to ever say those three magic words to her and even though she hadn't believed them, she'd desperately _wanted_ to believe. ' _I love you_ '. But could she really have meant them? It was a cruel trick to play on someone, but then again, did she really deserve any better? After all, the one person who rightfully should've said those words to her was gone because of her. That was the reason why she deserved everything that had happened to her. It was repentance for her greatest sin. She needed to learn how to be a good girl or she'd never find any where she could belong.

She forced herself to calm down, though it took a little while and once she had calmed down, she didn't have anything to distract her from the searing pain in her shoulder. It seemed it was time to head back to the house and face whatever she had coming for her. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too painful.

Taking a deep breath to give her a bit of a courage, she rose and headed for the path, lifting her hood up to protect her from the rain. She didn't want to risk anything at this point. As she walked, she found herself thinking about what had happened after the attack with the shark. She'd called Edward. Why had she done that? She knew that there was and never could be anything between the two of them. It wasn't possible. She wasn't worth something like that. So why had she called? He couldn't want anything to do with her, now that there was no mystery for him.

But the thought of what must be the truth had a sudden agony of despair ripping through her. Just the thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the way he smiled that crooked smile, the kind things he'd done for her, had her desperately wishing that she could be worth being with someone like him. He was everything she'd ever wanted and he'd given her what no one else ever had before she'd even met him.

By the time she got back to the house, she saw that it was already noon. She'd been gone a while, longer than she'd anticipated. By now, Bella would surely be up.

Sighing, she headed inside, slowly walking upstairs where she found Bella working on a paper on her bed. Once the brunette realized she was there, she leaped up, anger clouding her features. Ember recoiled back at the fury, backing up into the door and staring at the girl with wide eyes.

"What were you thinking?!" The brunette hissed, her eyes watering up. "Do you know how worried Charlie and I were?! Only to find out that you'd decided you needed a joy ride?!"

What? Ember wasn't entirely sure what Bella was talking about. Was she telling her what the cover story was? Did Charlie not know? Is that what everyone else thought? Or did Bella really have nothing to do with what had happened last night?

"And now you don't even have an answer." Bella scoffed, shaking her head at her. "As usual. You're always doing this. Doing things to cause problems and then you just act as if it's okay. I cut you some slack before because I realize that it's hard to adjust, but enough is enough. I've tried to be there for you, but I can't keep up. It's not even that you worried ME, but Charlie was sick with worry. He was out all night looking for you. Why didn't you at least come home?!"

"I'm sorry." Ember responded, her chest aching as the brunette yelled at her. She knew for a fact that Bella wasn't one for confrontations, but she also knew that she did have a temper. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"But you didn't do anything to stop it." Bella argued, glaring. "What did you think? That it just wouldn't have an effect on us? Did you think we wouldn't care? I honestly thought that we'd heard right when we learned of what happened with your stepfather, but from the looks of it, you were pretty well off. Spoiled and everything. I mean, obviously you were allowed to do whatever you wanted. Linda was right, wasn't she? You enjoy manipulating and hurting people?"

At these words, Ember felt anger rise in her. It was illogical, but she couldn't help it. How dare she! It was one thing to disregard her and overlook her and put her down, but it was another completely to accuse her of doing such actions to someone else. She would never wish what she'd gone through on someone else, let alone inflict it with her own hands!

"And what the hell have you been doing, huh?" She demanded, glaring at the brunette. "You pretend to be all nice, you let things slide, make me let my guard down and then you plot against me with the conceited and egotistical Linda," she venomously spit the name out, " who is so precious and always right. I may deserve what's given to me, but it doesn't mean that you can go accusing me of being just as terrible as you! You're the one who manipulates! You're the one who hurts people! You and Charlie and Renee and every other stupid, insolent person in this town!"

She immediately felt fear when she focused on Bella's furious expression. If looks could kill, she'd definitely be on the floor right now. Ember took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She never should have reacted that way! It was only asking for trouble for herself.

"Is that what you think of us?" Bella asked, glaring cuttingly at her. "We didn't _have_ to take you in. We didn't _have_ to let you use our stuff, we could've just left you there. And this entire time, you haven't been hurt. You aren't a victim. Your stepfather's the victim!"

Ember glared, biting her lip and clenching her hands tightly into fists. She couldn't let this rile her up anymore. That's what Bella wanted most likely. The more Ember said, the more punishment later, most likely when Charlie got home. Would he maybe join in also? Well, Bella had tried to kill her last night, so was it safe to assume anything at this point?

"You lied to the police, didn't you?" Bella continued, practically shaking with anger. "Wanted them to think you were mistreated. It's all starting to make sense now. That first day in class. You truly do only want attention! Just the same as your mother did!"

At those words, Ember felt a calm fury settle over her and she glared coldly into Bella's eyes. "You can drop me off a cliff and leave me for dead, you can terrorize me, you can order me around, you can do whatever the hell you want to me, but if you ever, _ever_ say anything bad about my mother again, I will personally make sure that you're put through hell."

Bella's angry expression faltered at Ember's words and Ember took the chance to turn and head out of the room, heading for the front door. She couldn't stay here. Not when she was so angry. Already, she was out of line and if she remained here for too much longer then she would find herself in more trouble then she'd ever been in before.

"Ember, wait!" Bella's voice stilled her and she turned to see the brunette stumbling down the stairs. "Look, I have every right to be angry at you, but it doesn't mean that I can say the things that I did. I'm sorry."

Ember frowned and watched Bella with wary eyes. What was she up to? Or was she even up to something? Could this all be a misunderstanding? That was the thing. She didn't know. She didn't know what to expect from the brunette.

Shaking her head, Ember opened the door and grabbed the keys to Bella's truck, suppressing a wince as the motion caused her shoulder to sear with pain. "I'll be back tonight."

And before the brunette could punish her, she hurried out to Bella's truck, hopping in and starting it up. She was a little surprised that Bella didn't follow her out, but instead of dwelling on it, she pushed it out of her mind, focusing on her driving and trying to ignore the persistent pain in her shoulder that occurred every time she turned the wheel.

It wasn't until the pain in her shoulder forced her to pull over to the side of the road that she registered the tears falling silently from her eyes. She wanted someone she could put her trust in, someone she wasn't constantly second guessing. How was she supposed to do that? How did someone know that they could trust someone? She couldn't even trust that Bella and Charlie _didn't_ have her best interests in mind. It was a disorienting feeling and ultimately it made her feel lost.

She barely registered anything until her phone rang. Sighing, she picked it up, glancing down at the caller ID. Her blood froze and her heart stopped. It was Charlie. If Bella was right about him looking for her all night, then he was definitely upset. What would he do to her for not only being gone all night and wasting his time since he had to look for her, but also not being home right now? Before she knew it, she was thrust into a full on panic attack. Wave after wave of fear hit her, her breaths came in quick gasps and she began to feel dizzy. The world tilting around her.

For the next few minutes, she was sure that she would suffocate. Her lungs just wouldn't pull in enough air. The whole while her phone kept ringing, sending her into a vicious cycle. The longer she panicked, the longer it took for her to answer the phone, the longer the phone rang, the more she panicked.

Just when she felt that she was about to pass out, she was suddenly pulled out of the car. She expected terror to follow, but instead all she felt was waves of calm assaulting her and eroding away the panic. It didn't take long for her to begin pulling in large breaths of air, she desperately needed, her heart rate slowing. Absently, she noted that her phone had stopped ringing and there was a high soprano voice murmuring somewhere behind her.

Once she was completely clear of any panic, she leaned back against the truck, turning to see who had rescued her from one of the worst and longest panic attacks she'd suffered through. The honey blonde Jasper stood before her, worry and caution in his eyes as he watched her.

"Thanks." She whispered before slowly sliding down so she was sitting on the asphalt of the road, leaning her head back against the truck. Now that she was calmer, she was able to recognize the other voice as Alice.

"She's fine, Mr. Swan. Just got a bit turned around and lost." She was saying. There was a moment of silence before Alice moved to stand in front of Ember, holding the phone out to her. "He wants to speak with you."

Nodding, she took the phone, her hand shaking a bit as she put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Where have you been, young lady?!" He nearly shouted, invoking another wave of panic in her, which Jasper quickly took care of as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "I understand that we didn't exactly go into any rules, but staying out all night and then not even coming home is...well, I figured we wouldn't have to cover it. Now, I want you home in the next ten minutes or you're grounded for the rest of your life! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." She murmured, nodding at Jasper in thanks. If it weren't for him, she'd probably be in another panic attack as she thought of what might be waiting for her at home. "I'll be there shortly."

The line was quiet for a moment before Charlie sighed and cut the connection. Sighing to herself, Ember closed the phone and went to stand up, accepting the hand that Alice offered. "Thanks, guys. I would stay longer, but I need to get home." And she didn't think they'd want to be around when her shoulder started bleeding again.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Jasper wondered, helping her into the truck. It was tempting, but Ember really didn't want to cause them anymore bother. She didn't know why they were helping her, but she was almost positive that they'd been pulled away from something far more important.

"Thanks, but I think that Charlie's going to be pretty mad." She murmured as an excuse, leaning back against the seat and turning to look at them. "I shouldn't have stayed out so late last night."

They nodded, though she wasn't sure that they bought her story. However, the two of them didn't say anything, instead vanishing into the trees.

When she arrived home, she was surprised at what she found. Instead of an angry and fuming Charlie Swan, she was met with Bella and Charlie setting the dinner table. Frowning, she carefully walked into the room, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

Bella turned and flashed her a slightly hesitant smile. "Hey, Em. I explained about what happened last night." She looked at Charlie with a pointed look.

"I'm not upset." Charlie said, heaving a sigh. "But we do need to set down some rules. If you're going to go to a friend's house, then I need you to tell me or Bella. Also, we need to talk about a few other things."

Ember nodded slowly, glancing nervously between Charlie and Bella. Were they on the same page or were they both lying? Was one of them lying? She just couldn't tell. Well, might as well get the conversation over with, she thought, taking a deep breath. "What other things?"

"First, I think we need to address the fact that you think we're manipulating you or that we have some hidden agenda." He continued, shifting a little uncomfortably. Ember clenched her hands into fists.

What if he was lying?

And what if he wasn't? The small voice of hope in the back of her head decided to pipe up. She opened her mouth to protest, but Charlie quickly talked over her. "I can understand why you would think that, given what I've heard of your life before coming here, but I want to at least have told you, whether you believe what I'm about to say or not, but we do care about you."

Most of the time he was talking, he was shifting around uncomfortably and not looking at her for too long, but Ember found herself off-balanced inside as he met her eyes, speaking to her with complete sincerity. "I love you as if you were my own daughter and I will never raise a hand to you. I might get angry, I might ground you, but I will _never_ intentionally harm you."

Part of her didn't believe him, but she also wasn't quite sure how she couldn't. From what she'd learned of Charlie, he wasn't good at expressing emotions to others, but here he was practically baring his heart, even though by all rights he should be punishing her. She should've been black and blue by now, barely able to breathe through the pain. Yet, she was still completely fine. He hadn't made a move towards her.

Turning away, she tried to take a deep breath only for it to come out as a sob. Bella hurried forward and encased her in a hug, rubbing her back and murmuring soft reassurances to her. Everything was so confusing and overwhelming and she wasn't sure what she should or shouldn't believe anymore. Could they really care about her so much? The cold hard truth settled in the pit of her stomach, an icy hand clenching around her heart. No, they couldn't. They might think that they could. At the moment. But there was no way it would ever last. They would eventually realize that she wasn't worth their time.

"I'm sorry." Ember murmured, pulling away from Bella and wiping her tears, suppressing a wince as her shoulder began searing with pain again. "I need to...be alone for awhile."

And before they could respond, she ran upstairs and shut herself in the bathroom, collapsing to the ground in tears. She tried to be quiet, she really did, but at that point, she was too emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted to have much control over it. It didn't feel like the tears would ever end, but eventually they did and she just felt empty.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but soon her shoulder demanded to be attended to. Quietly, she stood and unwrapped the wound, welcoming the numbness within her as she cleaned it out and re-bandaged it. It was tempting to take some pain medication for it, but she also knew that being under the influence of anything was generally a pretty bad idea for her. It made her very vulnerable.

She eased her way to Bella's room, being careful to make no noise as she entered, not wanting to wake the brunette. A glance at the clock revealed that it was quite early in the morning and that she'd been in the bathroom far longer than she'd anticipated. Exhausted, she laid underneath the window, wondering how different the next day would be. Maybe all of this was just a dream, she reasoned, closing her eyes and curling onto her side. It would be quite cold tonight.


	8. Sunny Conversations

**Hey guys! So this is the last chapter I had prepared already. I would have updated sooner, but my computer hasn't wanted to connect to my Internet network for some reason. I've almost finished Chapter 9, but after that I can't promise that updates will be as quick as they've been. Thanks so much for reading this story guy's and giving me your input! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

Ember slowly woke up, frowning when she realized she wasn't shivering like she'd expected. A glance down showed that someone had covered her with a blanket while she slept. But who could have done it? She hadn't even woken when the blanket had been placed over her. That alone terrified her.

Her head was still pounding from her breakdown and she rubbed her temples as she stood, hoping to alleviate the discomfort. Right, first thing to do was to wash her face. One look in the mirror revealed that her eyes were still a little red and there were dried tear marks on her cheeks. She quickly washed her face with cool water, listening to Bella get up for the day as she dried off. She pulled a brush through her hair before returning to Bella's room and dressing in a pair of dark blue jeans, a grey long sleeved shirt and her black converse. Usually, she would dress with more flash and color, but today she just felt drained and unsure, even with the sun shining brightly. Then again, was she happy about the sun? It only meant that Edward wouldn't be at school today.

But if the sun hadn't been up would he even show up? After her phone call, he probably thought she was a freak and decided he didn't want to bother himself with her any longer. The thought hurt, more than she'd expected it to. She was used to people not caring, she used to be acclimatized to it.

"How'd you sleep?" Bella suddenly asked, startling Ember and causing her to whip around to look at her. The brunette looked hesitant and nervous as if she were unsure of how Ember would react to being spoken to.

Ember had to admit, that was fair, since Ember herself wasn't sure how she would react to the brunette today. The night before she'd been comforted by her, hugged while she cried, it was a strange feeling to say the least. In fact, she couldn't remember a time anyone had actually hugged her before.

"Better than expected." She finally answered, her voice soft and a little hoarse still from her cry session the night before. After a moment of standing with the other girl in awkward silence, she cleared her throat, looking out the window. "Sun's out. Bet you're pretty ecstatic."

This drew a smile from Bella who nodded. "Very. Come on, Charlie has breakfast waiting."

Nodding, Ember followed her downstairs, absently listening as Charlie greeted Bella while they sat down and started eating eggs and bacon. Soon Charlie had to get up and head out the front door, calling out a goodbye before the sounds of the cruiser pulling out could be heard. Shortly after, she followed Bella out to the giant Chevy truck, shrugging into her jacket as she climbed into the passenger seat.

Due to their early departure, they were some of the first ones to arrive at school and once they were parked, Ember hopped out of the truck, following Bella over to one of the picnic benches that were rarely used. She wanted to question the brunette about the events of the night before, but when she turned to start inquiring about it, she lost the nerve. Bella looked so content as she doodled in a notebook, enjoying the sun. She didn't want to ruin that by angering or worrying her. It was getting harder to tell which emotion usually came from the girl when it came to Ember.

"Bella!" Someone called, drawing the brunette's attention. It was Mike Newton, wearing khaki shorts and a striped Rugby shirt. He was waving at Bella, though he faltered a bit when he noticed that she was sitting beside Ember.

"Hey, Mike." Bella greeted, waving back as he came over and sat beside her, the tidy spikes of his hair shining golden in the sunlight and a grin stretching across his face. Glancing away from the two, she saw what appeared to be Jack and Linda, heading across the field. Panic seized her and her eyes widened, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Bella, I'll see you later." She murmured quickly, managing to control the trembling in her voice as she stood. Before Bella could protest, Ember was already quickly walking towards her first class, hurrying inside and sitting in a seat near the window. She hadn't even considered what would happen when she went back to school. Linda and Jack had tried to kill her. Almost succeeded even. Would they try again? Would they think she'd told someone?

When Bella arrived in Trig, Ember found that she felt relieved and a bit safer. That was unexpected. Did that mean that she didn't think Bella had helped conspire against her then? Was it because of the brunette comforting her before? Was that a ruse? She couldn't be sure and thinking about it made her head ache.

Anxiously, she waited for Linda to enter the classroom and see her. How would she react? What would happen later when the blonde got her alone? Would she ambush her after class? Drag her into the woods and finish the job? The thought had her paling and cringing back into her seat, but by the time the bell rang, Linda was nowhere to be seen.

Confused, Ember tried to reason why the blonde wasn't there. She was never late to class. Despite the fact that the girl didn't have much standards, for whatever reason, being on time was a big one with her. So then where was she?

The entire period passed and still Linda didn't show. And she wasn't in the next one either. By the time lunch rolled around, Ember had managed to relax since it didn't seem that Linda would be showing up that day. However, this meant that she didn't have anything to distract her from her worries about Edward. She wanted to see him, even if it ended with him sending her away.

In Biology, Ember couldn't help the wave of disappointment and the sense of absence she felt when she sat at her table alone. How could she have come to care for Edward as much as she did? Was it because he was the first person who she'd really seen as someone she could trust? _Did_ she trust him?

Yes, she realized. She trusted him. Completely. It was a little terrifying to realize that she'd given something so valuable without even realizing it.

She really must have let her guard down for that to happen. How could one person do such a thing to her? How did he have such an affect on her? She knew that he was the only one who'd helped her while she was living with Mark, but to place her trust in him? That was a lot. It might seem small to most, but that wasn't something she did easily. In fact, she'd only ever done it twice before and both times her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

By the time she arrived home, her arm was pulsing angrily with deep searing pains. She was almost certain that something had gone wrong, but at the same time, she wasn't sure how to address the problem. If she asked to go to the hospital, she would have to show them the bite. What if Charlie and Bella hurt her once they saw that she was weak? What if they really did care, but they felt that she had lied to them and betrayed them by not telling them?

Plus, she would have to go to the hospital. They'd stick her with needles and cut her open. She knew that it was probably irrational to fear such a thing, but she couldn't help it. In her experience, hospital equipment was for causing pain. Nothing else. It meant punishment later.

Whimpering softly as another round of pain washed through her, she stood heading downstairs, calling to Bella that she was going for a short walk before heading for the door. Opening it, however, she was startled to find Carlisle on the other side, his hand raised to knock.

"Dr. Cullen?" She wondered, frowning. Why was he here? Did something happen? Bella. Panic flashed through her and she hurried into the kitchen, nearly slamming into her cousin. "Bella, are you okay? What's going on?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Bella wondered, confused before looking towards the door, where Carlisle was standing, a slightly concerned expression on his face. "Oh. No, I'm fine. Charlie asked him to come over." With that, she walked over to the door. "Please come on in, Dr. Cullen. Charlie should be home in a couple of minutes."

"Of course." Carlisle murmured, stepping through the door and smiling kindly at the two of them. "And I'm assuming that Miss Matthews is my patient today?"

Wait, what? Ember's gaze snapped to Carlisle's in shock before she looked to Bella. They'd called a doctor for her? But why? That would just cause suspicion. When Carlisle found the wound on her shoulder - and with how it felt right then, she didn't doubt that he would, probably already had picked up on it - Bella's secret would be out. Or was Bella not even involved in the whole situation? Ember just wasn't sure. Also, how was he going to react to her knowing his family's secret? What if he was angry? She'd spent time at school with his children, but had never really thought about him and Esme would feel about it.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, she realized that Bella was leading her into the living room with Carlisle following behind. What was she supposed to do in this situation? "Um, Bella? What's going on?"

"Charlie asked Dr. Cullen to come make sure you were okay." Bella responded, shifting a little nervously as she motioned for Carlisle to take a seat on the couch. "When you were talking about Linda...well, I told Charlie."

Ember's eyes went wide and her heart began to beat faster as she felt panic begin to flood her. Why was Bella telling Charlie this? Was she setting up a trap? Testing Ember's loyalty?

"And?" Her voice came out as a whisper and she absently noticed Carlisle's concerned gaze on her. That alone confused her. Why would he be concerned for her? He barely knew her.

"Well, he looked into it and Linda's boyfriend told us what happened." Bella responded, the anger behind the brunette's words enough to have Ember drop her head and anxiously wait to see what she would do. "Charlie arrested them this morning while we were at school, but he wanted to make sure you were alright. Hence, Dr. Cullen being here."

Ember glanced over to Carlisle, startled to see a hint of anger in his golden eyes. What did she do? Was he equating it to her starting problems still? Was he worried that she would spill his secrets? Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she was taking the situation irrationally, but she couldn't help the panic that flowed over her, causing her heart to beat faster.

Bella didn't seem to notice as she smiled apologetically at Carlisle. "I didn't know that Charlie would be so long. I have some shopping to do and it can't wait. Will you guys be okay here?"

"Yes, thank you." Carlisle responded with a smile, turning towards Ember as Bella left the room. Ember watched her fearfully, afraid that this was all some giant joke they were playing on her or of being alone in an unknown situation. "Miss Matthews, I want you to try to calm down. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just here to make sure you're safe."

Ember struggled to gain a semblance of control over herself. Now really wasn't the time to lose it. If Carlisle was going to kill her, she'd need to be capable enough to at least try to help herself and though admittedly it would take a miracle for her to win, she couldn't just roll over and take it.

But did she truly believe that he would hurt her? He was quite capable, she knew that for a fact, but was he willing? She'd established her trust in Edward earlier, so shouldn't she trust his faith in Carlisle also? But he could be misled. The thought caused her stomach to flip uneasily and she had to force herself to sit on the couch beside Carlisle.

There really was no reason to delay this, she thought, trying to force her heart to calm down as Carlisle slowly reached for her arm. He would catch her if she tried to leave and with the state her arm was in, she probably wouldn't make it far anyways.

"Edward told us." He murmured softly, unwrapping her wound and examining it closely. Her gaze shot to his quickly as her heart beat faster. This was the moment she'd been dreading. How would he react? Would he kill her? Keep her hostage until they made a decision? "My family and I discussed it and thought you should know that we don't mind you knowing our secret."

Wait, what? She wondered, completely bewildered. Why didn't they mind? "But this jeopardizes everything you've done. You aren't worried I'll say anything?"

"That did come up in our discussion. However, you've been keeping it quite well. You said you've known since your first day, correct?" He asked with a kind smile. She nodded with a frown. "Besides, all of my children have grown quite fond of you."

None of this made sense, she decided. The world had gone crazy. With Bella comforting her and now Carlisle showing up in the middle of the afternoon, tending to her wound and not even caring that she knew what he was, that was the only explanation she could compute.

She watched him bandage her wound for a moment before something suddenly occurred to her. "How are you here? It's sunny out and while I know you don't burn, the sun does still affect you."

"I took our Mercedes and used this." He responded with a grin, holding up a parasol after finishing with her arm. "It did take some effort to go unnoticed, but not only was Charlie worried, Edward was also."

Her gaze shot up to his at this bit of information. "Edward? I thought-"

"Dr. Cullen." Charlie's voice in the doorway, startled her and she instantly went quiet. "Sorry that I wasn't here. I was tied up at the office."

"Perfectly alright, Chief Swan." Carlisle murmured with a friendly smile. "I was just finishing up. She's in perfect health."

"Well, thanks for coming out to check her over. I know it's your day off." Charlie responded, shifting on his feet. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I should be going." Carlisle declined, heading for the door. "I've promised my wife that I'd be home as soon as I could. She wants to take advantage of the nice weather."

The phone rang and Charlie mumbled an apology before going to answer it. Ember carefully made her way over to Carlisle. "Thanks. For not telling him about...you know."

"Just keep it clean, ice it before going to bed and try not to move it too much. I know you probably don't wish to tell me how you acquired this wound, but if you change your mind, feel free to contact me." Carlisle responded, concern in his eyes. She nodded and he smiled kindly at her before opening his parasol and stepping outside, heading over to his car and quickly getting inside.

The rest of the evening was mostly uneventful. Ember stayed inside for the rest of the day and sat down for dinner with Charlie and Bella, her thoughts enough to occupy her and distract her from any panic she might have felt otherwise. Carlisle had said that his children had grown fond of her, but why? Didn't they see how worthless she was? It was a never ending battle. She knew she wasn't worth anyone's caring or fondness, but she was selfish enough to want it.

It wasn't until Bella spoke to her sometime after dinner, that she snapped out of her stupor. "What? Yeah, sure."

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Port Angeles with Angela, Jessica and I tomorrow after school? Charlie's already okay'd it." Bella repeated, taking the plate that Ember had been washing for the last ten minutes from her and taking over the dishes.

"Um, sure, I guess." Ember responded, frowning a little at the invitation. She couldn't help but think about all the possible ulterior motives the brunette could have.

She hated that she couldn't be sure about Bella's actions and she definitely didn't want to go anywhere with Jessica who was practically best friends with Linda, but something was telling her that it was very important for her to go. Maybe something had happened in the book and while she couldn't remember the exact details, she knew that it was dangerous. Bella did often get into trouble.

In the morning it was sunny again and Ember quickly got ready for the day, being careful not to wake Bella as she got out of the bed. The brunette had been persistent in getting her to sleep in the bed with her so Ember had actually woken up warm that morning. She dressed for the warmer weather in a white lacy blouse that still covered her wounded shoulder, but was still comfortable, dark blue jeans and her black converse.

By the time, the two of them arrived at school, it was just barely before class would start and Ember didn't have time to dwell on the fact that Edward wouldn't be at school. By the time school had ended and the four of them were in Jessica's car heading out of Forks, Ember was actually excited. She'd never been on a proper shopping trip before and she was greatly looking forward to it.

 **So I figured that I should address some questions. I know that Linda can be annoying, but she does have a role to serve later on in the story.**

 **Also, I apologize if I've been switching between first and third person, I didn't realize I had and I probably missed it in editing. To address her not telling Charlie and Bella about being thrown off a cliff, well Ember is used to things like that. It will be further explained later on, but Mark had a large influence in several criminal activities and groups so it wasn't abnormal for her to have to worry about things like that. But that will be explained more later on. Thanks for reading guys and please continue to let me know what you think.**


	9. Shadows of the Past

**Hey guys, so this chapter is going to be kind of dark and it contains the scene from Port Angeles. Going to warn you now, it goes a little bit further than in the book, but not too far. I hope that makes sense. I tried to not be super graphic so it isn't like how lemons and smut are written, but you'll see what I mean. The scene to me was necessary for the story and for Ember's background. Also, there might be a bonding scene with Rosalie in the next chapter!**

Jessica drove quickly, so they made it to Port Angeles by four. As the others spoke about the boys and the dance, Ember gazed out the window, taking in the city and thinking about how it felt to roam over the rooftops. She missed the feeling, but at the same time, she was also enjoying small town life. Well, maybe it wasn't the small town, but rather the people in the town. More specifically, the Cullen's. Even though, she was still cautious when it came to them, she'd never felt the way she did when she was with them. At peace, calm, as if she were a normal girl and actually had a place to belong. It was a nice feeling.

As they walked through the doors of the one big department store in town, Jessica questioned Bella about past boyfriend's and dances. Ember absently listened as she browsed the dress racks. There wasn't a large selection, but both Jessica and Angela managed to find a couple of things to try on. Bella helped them with their choices as Ember just browsed through the different options.

Next was accessories and shoes. Again, there were limited choices, but both Angela and Jessica managed to find things they were happy with and that went well with their dresses.

They'd planned to go to a little Italian Restaurant, but the dress shopping hadn't taken very long, so they decided to split up for a little while. Angela, Jessica and Bella going to put the clothes in the car before walking to the bay and Ember heading to find a bookstore. Ember normally would've wanted to go to the bay, but considering her last experience near water, she decided that books were much safer. Bella had offered to go with her, but she encouraged her to go with her friends.

Ember had been by herself many times on the streets of a city and she knew to be cautious. Besides, it was just a bookstore and a reprieve from all of the gossip sounded like a good idea. She didn't fit with the other girl's and so she didn't really have much to contribute to conversation.

She headed in the direction that Jessica pointed, but the store wasn't quite what she was looking for. The windows were full of crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. There would be no reprieve from her thoughts in those books so she just continued past it, deciding to search for a normal book store.

She meandered through the streets, watching as they filled with end-of-the-workday traffic, not paying that much attention to where she was going. She was trying not to think about him and more than anything trying to beat down her hopes for Saturday, fearing disappointment. No one ever kept their promises and though Carlisle had told her that Edward had been worried, it didn't mean that he still was. Perhaps he was just worried that her wound would cause him discomfort if not tended to. Shoving the thoughts out of her mind, she took a few deep breaths and continued on her way, looking for anything promising.

She started to realize, as she crossed another road, that she was going the wrong direction. The traffic earlier had been going north, and the buildings that surrounded her now, mostly appeared to be old warehouses. Sighing, she decided that she'd turn at the next corner and loop around after a few blocks. Hopefully, her luck would be better on a different street.

A group of four men turned the corner she was heading for and nervousness quickly enveloped her. They weren't too many years older than she was, but they were too casually dressed to be heading home from the office and too grimy to be tourists, meaning they were probably the riff-raff, the troublemakers. They were joking amongst themselves, punching each other's arms and laughing loudly. She moved as far to the side as she could, looking past them towards the corner and she walked swiftly.

"Hey, there!" one of them called as they passed, and since there was no one else around he had to be talking to Ember. She glanced up automatically, her nerves growing. Two had paused, the other two were slowing. The closest was about twenty, heavy set, dark-haired, and wearing a flannel that was open over a dirty t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and sandals. He seemed to be the one who had spoken. He took half a step towards her. Quickly looking away, she walked faster toward the corner, hearing them laugh at full volume behind her.

"Hey, wait!" one of them called after her, but she knew better than to feed into their amusement, even if they were harmless. Keeping her head down, she rounded the corner with a sigh of relief, trying to ignore their chortling behind her.

She found herself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of some warehouses with bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The other side of the street had no sidewalk, just a chain-link fence with barbed wire at the top, protecting some sort of storage yard. She'd wandered further than she'd meant to. It was getting dark, she realized, the clouds piling up and creating an early sunset. She'd left her jacket in the car and a sudden shiver made her cross her arms tightly, rubbing them to create some form of warmth.

The sky darkened further and she glanced over her shoulder. She realized with shock and fear that two men were walking quietly twenty feet behind her. They were from the same group she'd passed at the corner though neither was the dark one who'd spoken to her. She swiftly turned her head forward, quickening her pace.

A chill that had nothing to do with the weather made her shiver again, but she resisted the urge to cross her arms, not wanting to hamper her movement in anyway. She didn't have any purse, so she knew that they most likely weren't petty thieves. It meant that they were probably worse and the chances of them just coincidentally passing her again were pretty unlikely.

She listened intently to their footsteps, which were much too quiet when compared to the boisterous noise they'd been making earlier, but it didn't sound like they were speeding up or getting closer to her. She tried to stay level-headed and calm, but fear quickly spread through her like fire. They would most likely hurt her if they got the chance and looking around at the buildings around her, there wasn't much chance for her to flee to the rooftops where most wouldn't be able to follow. She had to force herself not to run, focusing on the right-hand turn that was only a few yards away. They were still staying as far back as they'd been before.

She'd reached the corner, but a quick glance revealed that it was only a blind drive to the back of another building. She had to hurriedly correct her mistake and dash across the narrow drive and to the sidewalk. There was a stop sign at the next corner where the street ended. They sounded further back, but she knew that they would probably outrun her if she took a dash for it. Not to mention, there was no guarantee that she would find help at the next corner. The footfalls were definitely farther back. Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw that they were about forty feet back now, but they were both staring at her.

It seemed to take forever to get to the corner, but she forced herself to keep a steady pace, the men behind her falling behind with every step. Had they given up? She wondered, frowning. Or maybe she was misreading the situation again. She'd done it quite often since coming to Forks, she realized. Maybe they'd realized they'd scared her and were sorry. People did tend to act differently than she expected here. Two cars passed the intersection she was heading for and she exhaled in relief. Not too much further and there would be more people around. She turned the corner with a grateful sigh.

And skidded to a stop.

The street was lined on both sides by blank, doorless, windowless walls. She could see two intersections down, streetlamps, cars and pedestrians, but they were all too far away. Because lounging against the western building, midway down the street, were the other two men from the group, both watching with excited smiles as she froze dead on the sidewalk. She'd made another grave mistake. She wasn't being followed.

She was being herded.

She turned then and darted to the other side of the road, but she had a sinking feeling that it was a wasted attempt. The footsteps behind her were louder now.

"There you are!" The booming voice of the stocky, dark-haired man shattered the intense quiet and made her jump. In the gathering darkness, it seemed like he was looking past her.

"Yeah," a voice called loudly from behind her, making her jump again as she tried to hurry down the street. "We just took a little detour."

Her steps had to slow now as she closed the distance between herself and the lounging pair too quickly. She could scream, but she wasn't sure if anyone would hear. If that were the case, it might provoke them further. The thickset man shrugged away from the wall as she warily came to a stop, and walked slowly into the street. She was trapped, she needed more time to think of something.

"Stay away from me," she warned, her voice trembling a little.

"Don't be like that, sugar," he called, and the raucous laughter started again behind her. That was when she made her third mistake of the night. Startled by the sound, she whirled around to look at the men, giving the man behind her the perfect opportunity to cross the few steps that allowed him to reach out and grab her. Throwing her head back, she quickly broke out of his arms, making a move to run. The other three were faster than she'd anticipated though and she quickly found herself surrounded.

The one behind her quickly had her in his grasp again and she let out a scream, kicking out at the others as they crowded around her. "Get off of me!"

They all laughed and the leader quickly threw her to the ground. Catching herself with her hands, she scrambled around to face them, cringing away from their excited expressions. She kicked out again, trying to scramble to her feet, but the leader quickly descended on her, pushing her back into the asphalt.

"Get away from me!" She screamed, nearly choking with her fear as they began to pull at her clothes. "NO!"

Her struggles didn't do much. Maybe if there had only been one, but confronted with four, there was plenty of hands to hold her down. The leader grinned down at her before bringing his head down to her neck and roughly dragging his lips down to her collar bone, his hands moving to her top.

She tried to fight against it, but one of his friend's held her hands securely, their grip tight around her wrists. Tears fell down her cheeks as she felt someone's hands move to the button on her jeans and she let out another scream, struggling harder. No, this would not happen to her again.

Before she knew it, the leader of the group had his lips on hers and was shoving his tongue down her throat. Gagging a bit, she let out a whimper as she felt someone unzip her jeans. Kicking out blindly, she bit down on the leader's bottom lip, hoping it would get him to move away, but all it did was excite him more and she felt him grab at her waist with bruising fingers.

He finally released her lips, instead bringing his to her neck, biting down hard. Crying out, she wished that someone would help her. But no one ever did. They all just looked the other way, why would this time be any different? It had always been that way. The neighbors surely couldn't have missed the screams that sounded from the house nearly every night. Quite abruptly, she was pushed into a sitting position before her shirt was torn over her head, leaving her flesh exposed with only her bra covering her.

"No!" She cried, trying to get her arms free to cover herself up as the leader lowered his head to nip at the skin of her breasts that was exposed to the night air. "Please! Stop!"

He chuckled, grinning up at her, his hands moving to her jeans in response as he started pulling at the fabric. She shook her head at him, thrashing against those who held her. Her head swam with fear and she felt like she might pass out as they continued to grab at her.

Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, causing all of them to scramble away from her in shock. The silver car fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet away from her.

"Get in," a furious voice commanded.

It was amazing how quickly relief shoved the fear away as soon as she heard his voice. Scrambling to her feet, she jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind her.

It was dark in the car, no light had come on with the opening of the car door, and she could barely see his face in the glow from the dashboard. The tires squealed as he spun around to face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving towards the stunned men on the street. She caught a glimpse of them diving for the sidewalk as the car straightened out and headed for the harbor.

"Put on your seatbelt," he commanded, his voice angry. She quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the darkness and it made her jump. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing through several stop signs without pause.

But she felt safe. Much safer than she ever had before. She still felt disgusted and dirtied by the events of the night, but it was easier not to dwell on it when she was sitting in the car with Edward. Glancing over, she studied his features in the limited light. He looked murderously angry. For a brief moment, she wondered if it was her fault. Was he upset that she'd gotten herself into such danger?

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, a couple of tears still falling down her cheeks. Was her blood tempting him too much? Her shoulder burned and as her heart began to slow, she could feel the rest of her becoming sore, her neck throbbing where the man had bit her. She would definitely have bruises.

"No," he said curtly and his tone was livid.

She watched him in silence as his blazing eyes stared straight ahead, until the car came to a sudden stop. Glancing around, she saw that it was too dark to see anything but vague outlines of the trees lining the road. They weren't in town anymore.

"Ember?" he asked, his voice tight, controlled.

"Yes?" Her voice trembled with tears. Her chest was only covered by a bra, but she didn't move. Any movement done by her would likely make the bloodlust worse for him. She couldn't have that, no matter how uncomfortable she was. She owed him everything.

"Are _you_ all right?" He still didn't look at her, but the fury was clear on his face.

Biting her lip, she nodded, knowing it was a lie as silent tears continued to streak down her cheeks. "Yes."

"Distract me, please," he ordered.

"What?"

He exhaled sharply.

"Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down," he clarified, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Uh..." She sought for something trivial, her mind still whirling from the recent events as she fought against the sobs that wanted to break past her lips. "Did you know that a female impala can delay birth for up to a month?"

His eyes were still shut tight, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

"What?"

"Yeah. Um, if they feel like it isn't the right time, they can delay the process." She murmured, working on autopilot as she spouted the random facts. "They prefer to give birth in the middle of the day since there is fewer of their predators about. Kind of interesting, I thought."

Edward sighed, and finally opened his eyes.

"Better?" She whispered, hoping that the low volume would stop the sobs from escaping.

"Not really."

She waited desperately for him to keep speaking, needing a distraction herself, but he was silent. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car, his face rigid.

"What's wrong?" She whispered, wanting to help him and forget about the hands she could still feel on her skin.

"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Ember," He was whispering, too, as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. "But it WOULDN'T be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those..." He didn't finish the sentence, looking away, struggling to control his anger again. "At least," he continued, "that's what I'm trying to convince myself."

She was silent for another moment, carefully pulling her knees up to her chest. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible. "I'm sorry." She could feel his gaze on her, but she just continued to stare forward as she fought with the emotions inside her, the tears still falling. "I should call Bella. Would you mind giving me a ride home when I'm ready? And can I borrow your phone? Mine's back...Well."

It was risky for her to request this of him, but she didn't want to face Bella and have the brunette find out about what had happened. Either the brunette would be overprotective or she would think Ember had deserved it. Ember just couldn't be sure, plus she didn't have a shirt so there would be no hiding it.

"Of course." He murmured softly, pulling his silver phone from his pocket and holding it out to her.

Breathing out shakily, she slowly opened the car door, taking the phone from him and stepping out into the cold air, shivering at the cold wind against her exposed flesh. She took a few deep breaths before dialing the number and bringing the phone to her ear, her hand shaking. Bella answered quickly.

"Hello?" She wondered uncertainly, her voice confused.

"Hey, Bella. I, uh, lost my phone but I ran into Edward...from school?" She murmured, trying to make her voice seem casual. She wasn't sure if she succeeded or not, but she kept going. "It was perfect timing really. He offered to help me with an essay so we're going to go for dinner and work on it. He also offered to give me a ride home so don't worry, I'll be home in a couple of hours, feel free to leave with Jessica and Angela. I know you wanted to go hang with Angela anyways. No need to worry about me."

"You sure?" Bella wondered, her voice conveying concern, uncertainty and the hope that Ember was, in fact, alright with it.

"Yeah." Knowing she wouldn't be able to keep so much composure for too much longer, she hurried to end the conversation. "Tell Charlie not to wait up? I'll be fine. Bye, Bells."

"Bye, Em. See you later." With that the brunette ended the call and Ember slowly closed the phone, leaning back against the car and wrapping her arms around herself.

She startled as soft fabric suddenly settled onto her shoulders, her head whipping around to see that it was just Edward. He'd removed his coat and placed it over her. She watched him in shock. She knew he was kind and she trusted him completely, but she'd never have expected anyone to willingly help ease any discomfort she might have.

"Th-thanks." She whispered, slowly putting her arms through the sleeves, wincing a little as it pulled her right shoulder. Uncomfortable, she dropped her gaze to her feet, only to pale when she realized that her jeans were still unzipped. Biting her lip, she glanced at Edward. He was leaning against the car beside her, staring forward into the trees. "Edward?"

"Yes?" He glanced at her briefly, keeping his eyes on hers. Most men she'd known in the past would have been looking her up and down. He truly was better than he gave himself credit for.

"Would you mind waiting in the car while I...straighten up a little?" She did her best to keep her voice calm and casual, but she knew that she'd definitely failed miserably.

"Of course. I'll get the heater going." He was in the car in a flash and after waiting a beat, Ember redid the zip and button on her jeans with shaky fingers. Next she moved to the zipper on the coat but her hands were shaking too much and she growled in frustration, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Long, pale fingers gently pushed her hands out of the way and she looked up slowly to meet his gaze. His ocher eyes were on hers as he quickly did the zipper up, not once straying downwards. The fact that he wasn't taking advantage of the situation shook her to the core. Wasn't that what people did? Wasn't that what she was worth?

"Why are you so nice to me?" She wondered, her voice breaking as she leaned back against his car. "You keep saving me and helping me. Why?"

Fury flickered in his eyes for a moment along with sadness, but it quickly faded to be replaced with determination. "Because you deserve it."

She shook her head. "How can you be so sure? I mean, I'm grateful that you stopped that from happening again, but I don't..."

She trailed off when she registered the cold fury in his eyes. It was so strong that she leaned back a little, the fear of the night not fully gone. What had she said, she wondered as she watched him shake with anger.

"What do you mean ' _again_ '?" He asked, his tone livid.

Her eyes widened as realization slammed into her. How had she let that just slip out like that? She'd never told anyone that, never _meant_ to tell anyone that! What was happening to her? Did she really trust him that much?

"I-I didn't mean to..I'm sorry..." She exhaled shakily, tears threatening again. "I can't do this right now."

He closed his eyes, appearing to be calming himself. They stood there like that for a moment longer before he opened his eyes and opened the passenger door for her. She gratefully climbed in, shivering a little as the heat tuned her in to how cold she'd been.

Edward climbed into the driver's side and Ember drew her knees back to her chest, wincing as her body began to register the growing soreness from her struggles. She fought the urge to rub her arms, to get rid of the feel of their hands on her as they sat there in silence. Eventually, the silence grew too much for her. She knew that Edward probably had a lot to process what with what she'd accidently clued him in on, but the more time she had to focus on the events of the night, the more hysterical she would become.

"Say something." She burst out, her tone a little frantic. "Please."

She could feel him watching her and for a moment, she didn't think he was going to say anything. Thankfully, she was wrong as his velvety tones filled the space between them.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

She frowned a little at the question, glancing at him. She hadn't expected him to inquire about that. Carlisle had, in his own way, but he was also a doctor, so she figured it was just a part of who he was, taking care of people and all. However, she reluctantly answered. Though it was better than discussing the events of the night, it still wasn't ideal conversation. "Linda and Jack. Or, well, it was actually the sharks but indirectly it was their fault."

"How did you come into contact with sharks?" He wondered, his voice carefully controlled as he turned to face her.

"Well, Bella took me down to La Push and I wanted to go see the tide pools, but Bella hung back." She started recounting the story, remembering all of the fascinating things she'd seen and the not so awesome lobster who'd left a bruise on her hand. "Everyone I'd gone with left before I noticed, I don't think they realized I wasn't with them," she added when she noticed the dark look in his eyes. "Anyways, I tried to find my way back, but I got lost since I'd never been there before. Linda and Jack found me."

"And they threw you off a cliff into the ocean?" He demanded, barely containing his anger, though this time she was sure it wasn't directed at her.

"Yes." She replied, leaning her head back against the seat. The subject was becoming a bit overwhelming to talk about so she quickly spoke before he could. "How did you find me tonight?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment, but eventually sighed before answering. "I followed you to Port Angeles."

This startled her and she bit her lip in confusion, furrowing her brows. Why did he do that? She had a vague feeling that he'd done it to Bella in the book, but she was most definitely not Bella so why had he followed her? She glanced back up at him, turning in her seat so her back rested against the door and she was facing him. "Why?"

"After you called me that night and then with what Carlisle told me after his visit to your house...I was worried. I wanted to make sure of it myself that you were alright." He admitted, speaking in a rush. His eyes never left hers.

"I was keeping tabs on Jessica, but not carefully. It took me a little while to notice that you went off on your own. Once I realized that you weren't with them anymore, I went to the bookstore I saw in Jessica's head, but I could tell that you hadn't gone inside and that you turned south...I knew you would have to turn around soon so I was waiting for you. As I waited, I was randomly searching the thoughts of people on the street to see if they'd seen you-so I would know where you were. I was strangely anxious for you..." She watched him in silence as he stared past her, lost in thought and seeing things she couldn't imagine.

"I drove around in circles, still...listening. The sun was setting and I was just about to get out and follow you on foot. And then-" He stopped, clenching his teeth together in sudden fury. She waited as he made an effort to calm himself.

"And then what?" She whispered, watching him carefully. He was still staring over her head.

"And then I heard what they were thinking," he growled, his upper lip curling slightly over his teeth. "I saw your face in his mind. What he was doing." He suddenly leaned forward, resting his arm on the steering wheel and covering his face with his hand. The motion was so swift she startled a little.

"It was very hard-you can't imagine how hard it was for me...to just simply take you and leave them there...alive." His voice was slightly muffled by his arm.

Ember sat there quietly, resting against the door, a little stunned by his admittance. He'd been worried for her. He was upset by how she'd been treated, not the way Mark would have responded to the situation. Mark probably would've encouraged it, telling her she was weak for even wanting help.

All the times she'd doubted Edward's intentions flashed through her mind and she felt shame flood her. How could she have thought such things of him? That he would hurt her for any reason? He'd done nothing but help her in the months she'd known him. She knew that he'd wanted to kill her that first day in Biology, but he'd fought the beast in him so that she could remain breathing.

She exhaled a little shakily and turned her head to look out the windshield. Had she been unfair this entire time? All of the times she'd suspected Charlie and Bella, that time with Esme in the car, yesterday with Carlisle, all of these people had done nothing but help her. Never had they even attempted to harm her and yet she'd been so quick to think the worst of them. She glanced back over to Edward as tears started to fall.

"I'm sorry." She managed to get out, her voice breaking a bit. He looked up, his eyes seeking hers, full of questions and concern. He opened his mouth, but she quickly continued before he could speak. "This whole time, I thought the worst of you. And your family. And this whole time, all you've done is be there for me and look out for me. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." His voice whipped out, low and harsh. "We try, but we are still dangerous. Sometimes we make mistakes. Me, for example, allowing myself to be alone with you."

"I'm a mistake to you?" She whispered, his words slicing through her. She'd expected this, but had hoped that it wouldn't come. "Why?"

"It isn't safe for you." He replied, turning in his seat to mimic her position against the door. "I don't WANT to be a monster, but it doesn't change the fact that I am one."

"Edward," she spoke softly but firmly. His eyes locked on hers. "I know monsters. I've grown up with them, we saw some tonight. Please, try to trust me on this. You aren't one of them."

His eyes held disbelief but he didn't press the issue. "Are you ready to go home?"

She hesitated to answer. Was she ready to go home? She could feel the fear of the night hovering near the edge of her mind, kept at bay for the moment by Edward's comforting presence. It was the first time anyone had made her feel truly safe without having to have some empathic abilities. What would happen once he was gone? How would she handle things then? Then again, maybe he needed to get home or at the very least he might need a reprieve from his bloodlust.

"Is this very difficult for you?" She wondered, not answering his question. "Being alone with me, in an enclosed space?"

Surprise flitted across his face, but he quickly settled his expression into a calm mask. He sighed. "Yes."

She nodded, biting her lip. "If it's better for you, then yeah. I'm ready to go home."

His eyes narrowed and he frowned as she turned, wincing a little at the soreness in her muscles. She faced the front and snapped the buckle in place slowly.

"How did you find out about me and my family? How do you know about...how hard it is for me to be around you?" He wondered, situating himself in his seat and starting the car to a soft purr before starting down the road. He didn't seem to have to pay much attention to his driving.

"I can't tell you yet." She murmured slowly, a strong feeling in her gut confirming her words for her. She wasn't sure how, but she just knew it wasn't the right time. "I almost don't remember it myself. It's hazy, like a dream I had long ago."

He shot a curious glance at her, seeming to mull over her words. He didn't respond though, just went back to staring out of the windshield. Maybe he was leaving her to her thoughts or needing to be left with his.

She didn't want to stop talking to him, but she understood needing space to sort things out. Only she didn't want to sort things out right now. She wanted to be distracted so she couldn't think. Thinking was a torture in itself. Left too long and one could disappear into their own minds, trapped in the horrifying memories of their past. It was only the very few who got trapped in paradise.

As the silence dragged on, her skin began to itch, the feeling of many hands on her growing. They had been more animal than Edward could ever have been. More monstrous. They would've taken what they wanted and then left her there for dead. And they would've enjoyed it. She knew that Edward had killed people before and on some level he had probably enjoyed it, but she didn't think he'd enjoyed the act itself. He had enjoyed the sustenance it gave him. After all, vampires were animals just like anyone else and they needed to eat. It was in their nature to feed on blood. It was a predator's instinct, but they couldn't be faulted for it.

However, the men that night, the one's who would have raped her for their own sick joy, they were the ones who were unnatural. Some doctor's would most likely blame it on their genes or their upbringings, but Ember knew from experience that in cases such as those, it was a choice. Those men had chosen to stalk her. Had chosen to try to rape her. Just like the ones before them who had been brought into her home by Mark. Brought to punish her for some reason that had never been imparted to her.

"Tell me something," he asked, his voice dragging her back from her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Can I trust you?"

She looked at him in surprise, that being one of the last questions she would've expected from him. He didn't need to trust her. As he continued to meet her eyes with almost pleading intensity, she felt something inside of her shift and she just knew that this would be a turning point for her. She had never had to worry about such a thing, since it was always just made quite clear that she would do what was asked of her or she would suffer the consequences. Slowly, she nodded. "Yes. You can."

He nodded back, his eyes passing over her face thoughtfully as they turned onto her street. Once they got closer to her house, he looked away, his brows furrowing in confusion. There were two cars in her driveway that shouldn't be there. Edward parked by the sidewalk and she quickly climbed out, moving closer to see the cars better. One was a blue convertible and the other was a black Mercedes. The Cullens' black Mercedes.

She frowned and cautiously headed inside, Edward following behind her. What she saw had her freezing in place, her eyes going wide.

"There you are, Em." The man before her had brown hair that was cropped close to his head, he was wearing black jeans, his boots that she'd been very well acquainted with, and a blue flannel open over a white shirt. There was a large, friendly smile on his face and his green eyes were focused on her, glancing down at the jacket she wore before landing on Edward and then back to her. He was standing next to Charlie and Carlisle and Esme were standing a little ways away.

Stunned, she just stared for a moment, fear coursing through her. She turned to Charlie, her eyes questioning. "What's going on?"

Was he sending her away? Had he finally decided he was done with her? He had, hadn't he? She'd caused him too much trouble and now he wanted to be done with the problem. But then why were Esme and Carlisle here?

"Ember. You're home early." Charlie murmured, stepping around Mark and hurrying over to her. "Bella mentioned that Edward was going to help you with some homework. Why don't you two kids head upstairs while us adults talk?"

Ember eyed him carefully, confused. Was Mark the same here as he was at home or was he the father she'd always wanted? Did she want to take the risk?

"Why are Mr. and Mrs. Cullen here?" She inquired, stepping away from Charlie and closer to a stiff Edward as she spoke a little more forcefully, noting that Mark's eyes narrowed slightly as she did. "What's going on?"

Charlie sighed, glancing around the room for a moment. "Would you guys mind giving me a moment to speak with my neice?"

Everyone moved to the living room, Mark giving her a warning look as he passed, Esme and Carlisle smiling gently at her and Edward watching her with concern. Charlie grabbed her arm gently and led her into the kitchen, motioning for her to sit at the table. She carefully did, her hands in fists as she fought the urge to run. It was just now fully dawning on her that Mark was here. In the place she had just started to consider home with the first people who had actually cared about her in her life. What if he hurt Charlie and Bella? The Cullens wouldn't be able to do anything without revealing themselves. What if he took her away? What if he hurt her?

Charlie spoke before she could work herself into a panic attack. "I'll start with the easier explanation first. I invited Dr. Cullen and his wife over for dinner. I wanted to talk to him about maybe being your doctor. Now don't take this the wrong way, but I think it would be good for you to talk to someone about...well, everything that happened prior to you coming here." He looked down at the table a little awkwardly. "I figured that even though he isn't that kind of doctor that you might feel more comfortable opening up to him since you've been hanging out with his kids."

"And what is Mark," -she had to force the name out through her teeth - "doing here?"

"The court ruled in his favor." Charlie replied, looking at her with sympathy. "He came to take you home."

She paled at those words. He couldn't take her away! She wouldn't go back to that! Never again! It took her a moment to realize that she was shaking as more tears fell down her face, her breathing erratic as Charlie tried to calm her down. Vaguely, she heard him call for Carlisle, but she couldn't bring herself to pay attention. She would be dead soon anyways. After this, Mark would kill her. She had defied him and hid from him for months. It had apparently gone to court. And he'd won. He was able to convince the court and the jury that he was innocent!

Absently, she recognized that Carlisle was trying to get some response from her, but she couldn't hear him past the pounding of her heart. It wasn't until Mark hurried over to her, a false expression of worry on his face that reality snapped back into focus, jarring her into clarity.

As he got close to her, she jumped to her feet, turning and hurrying up the stairs to Bella's room. He followed her but she quickly slammed the bedroom door shut, locking it before he could get in. She didn't stop there, hurrying over to the dresser and shoving it against the door, ignoring the pain that rippled through her shoulder.

"Ember!" Mark called, rattling the doorknob. "Come on, sweetheart. Just hear me out. Please."

She flinched at the endearment, grasping her head in her hands and backing over to the window, curling up beneath it as frightened sobs burst forth from her lips. She wasn't sure what she should do next.

If she opened the door, then she would have to go with Mark. There was nothing that Charlie or anyone else could do, bar from killing him. That wasn't something she particularly wanted to have any of the Cullens do though. They worked so hard to be good. She wouldn't ruin it. The only way she would get out of Mark's grasp was if they had reason to believe that he had abused her. And they wouldn't believe her over him.

Mark sighed. "Look, I don't know what happened to you, sweetie, but I just want to help. You aren't well."

She glared at the door, rage building in her to sit alongside the fear. Now he was trying to make people think she was crazy. Sighing, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to control her tears. "I'm not crazy."

"I'm not saying you are. Look, your mother got the same way. She was paranoid and thought that the people closest to her were trying to hurt her." Mark said, his tone careful as he spoke to her. What a good act he put on, she thought viciously, pulling on her hair as he continued speaking. "Please just come out and let me talk to you, Em."

"Don't call me that!" She shouted, unable to contain the emotions anymore. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

She knew that it wasn't really in her best interest to continue speaking to him in the manner that she was, knew she'd be punished later. It was inevitable. But she figured if he was going to kill her anyways, she might as well go down as her own person. It was then that a pretty crazy idea presented itself to her. If she got Mark to confess, then Charlie would have to arrest him. Overall, she was mostly safe in this house. If Mark attempted anything then he would have to deal with the Sheriff and 3 vampires.

"Please, just open the door." Mark called again, an undertone of anger in his tone.

She drew in a deep breath, her hands shaking as she spoke. "So you can punish me?"

"If you don't come out here, then yes you will be punished. It's looking like I'll have to ground you for at least two weeks." He called, sighing. She backed over to the wall at the thought of being punished. "Look, it's only me and Charlie here so you aren't going to be getting any attention from your little tantrum. You already made him send his guests away. After he housed you, you should be more considerate of him."

His words made her more afraid, though the only way she would be able to tell if he was telling the truth was to leave the room and see for herself. Hopefully, Edward wasn't too far away. He'd saved her tonight and he had to have been able to read how much of a monster her father had become. He wouldn't just leave her here. Would he?

"Did you beat my mother, too?" She asked, ignoring his words as best she could. "You know, sometimes I think it was better that she died. At least, she didn't have to be witness to the monster you've become."

"Ember, you are treading on thin ground." His voice was low and dangerous, closer to the way she remembered it. He was being sure to whisper so that Charlie wouldn't hear. "If you don't come out, right now, then I guarantee you. You will regret it."

Trembling, she stood, preparing herself for her next words and the consequences that would follow. "You've always told me that I'm the reason she's dead, but I'm not, am I? She wasn't sick. You beat her and she couldn't handle giving birth after that, but she did it anyway." She could almost feel his anger through the door. "I didn't kill her. You did."

The door suddenly burst open, the dresser crashing to the ground as Mark forced it, rushing across the room and backhanding her to the floor. "How dare you?! You little bitch! This time you won't be walking away! You're a disgrace!"

He grabbed the wrench on his belt and raised it. She moved to scramble away but his foot on her chest stopped her, pinning her to the ground. Shaking in fear, she opened her mouth to scream, but a little more pressure on her chest made it impossible to breathe, let alone scream. Where was Charlie? She wondered as Mark smiled down at her, looking like the sharks that had nearly killed her a few nights previous.

She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to breathe and waiting for him to bludgeon her to death. It would seem she was too hasty in her decision. Underestimated the safety of her situation. Right before she expected to feel the pain of cold steel hitting her head, she heard the cocking of a shotgun. Her eyes flew open and she felt relief at seeing Charlie pointing his gun at Mark.

"Put. It. Down. And step the hell away from her before I riddle you with bullets." Charlie ordered, his finger on the trigger and steel in his eyes.

There was a moment of tense silence and she could see stars in her vision. Mark glared daggers at her, no longer having to hide the hate in his eyes. "I got the court to let me go once, little Em. Don't think I can't do it twice. I'll be seeing you soon."

With that, he backed away from her, removing the weight from her chest. She sucked in as much air as she could, scrambling away from him. Charlie moved forward and cuffed Mark, escorting him from the room as he read his Miranda rights to him.

She took a few minutes to catch her breath and fully absorb what had happened before she shakily stood, grabbing a tank top, a sweater and some sweats and heading into the bathroom. Numbly, she turned the water on and stripped off her clothes, climbing under the water and trying to forget about the events of the night.

It was then that it truly hit her. Mark was here. In this reality. The thought started the shaking as she carefully brushed her fingers along the point he had cut off her breathing. She was fairly sure that there would be bruising. Just another reminder.

The thought had her falling to her knees in sobs again. She couldn't stay here. Not now that she knew he was in town. Mark would get loose again and he would find her. He would hurt Charlie and Bella to get to her. Curling up and wrapping her arms around her legs, she buried her face in her knees and sobbed. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, the events of the night running on a loop through her head, but eventually she noticed that the water had turned cold and she was shivering violently, her teeth chattering.

Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths, she managed to get her sobbing controlled to just a few hiccups before shakily reaching up to turn the water off and stand. She wrapped herself in a towel and carefully climbed out of the tub. It probably took her longer than necessary, but eventually she managed to pull her night clothes on and make her way out of the bathroom, still shivering.

Cautiously, she crept downstairs, peeking around the wall and into the kitchen. It was empty, but she could see a note taped to the fridge. It was kept short.

It read:

 _Went to the station with your father. Bella called to say she was staying at Angela's. Just get some sleep and I should be home tomorrow after school gets out. If you need anything, just call._

 _Love, Charlie_

For whatever reason, the endearment he left the note on had her tearing up again. Before she could dissolve into sobs again, she quickly heated a glass of warm water and crept back to her-Bella's bedroom. When she got there, she was startled by what she found.

 **So let me know what you guys think! I know that it is a rather dark chapter but this is one that is going to lead into the overall plot of this story which is going to be rather different from the book. I'm sorry for such a long wait, I only have internet when I go to my friend's house and also writing has been a bit difficult lately, since I have so much stuff going on. Family drama.**


	10. Aftermath

Instead of a trashed bedroom that she was expecting to have to clean before Bella got home, she found everything back in it's place. As if nothing had even happened. The most startling thing she saw though was the person sitting on her bed.

Rosalie sat there, watching her carefully while sitting completely immobile like a blonde's eyes were cautious and calculating, blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and gently blowing in the light breeze coming from the window she hadn't even noticed had shattered.

Ember quickly cast her eyes to her feet, a flash of fear shooting through her. Was Rosalie there to reprimand her? Or worse? Had she done something to give them away? She didn't think she had. Were they upset that Edward had to save her that night?

Shame and frustration followed after the panic. Shame because she had once again fallen into thinking the worst of someone and frustration because of the conflict within her. One side of her was trying to do what she'd been taught was right and good, stay out of the way of others and never assume that you're equal or superior to them. The other half was frustrated because she didn't want to be that way.

She no longer wanted to be the girl who only acted like any other normal girl at school, simply because she was given permission and ordered to do so, that way she could keep appearances and not draw unnecessary attention. The past few months she'd been living in Forks, she'd just started to begin feeling at home. Just started to feel that she could trust someone. Multiple someones, in fact, which in itself was surprising to her. However, after the events of the night, she wasn't sure anymore what to think and she couldn't help but to shy away from anything she wasn't sure about.

She didn't know how to deal with this. Mark was still here and he was just as she remembered him. Cold, heartless, terrifying, and completely able to have her at his mercy while she could do nothing but hope that she would wake up the next morning. That was familiar.

The men that night had in a manner of speaking been unusual, but it was sickeningly ordinary to her for Mark to bring such people home. But those men hadn't been brought in by Mark nor were they being paid to act the way that they did. They were doing it because they enjoyed it. Because she happened to lose her way. That had been her only crime against them.

She didn't even have a base of comparison for what happened in Port Angeles. Not really. It was too much of a foreign event to her. Yes, the act had been similar, but the environment, the reasons and the way it had been carried out were too unfamiliar to her. She didn't know where to begin dealing with that. It was too unfamiliar.

Despite the negative connotations and feelings she had about how she'd been raised, it was familiar. Familiar was usually painful and miserable for her, but she knew how to deal with it. Usually, she would be dealing with one of three situations after such an incident with Mark were to occur.

One, she would be begging on her hands and knees at his command. He enjoyed seeing that she remembered her place in the world and felt she needed a reminder. Two, she would be cleaning the house spotless until the early hours of the morning to get back in his good graces. She often did that anyways, though after an incident as severe as that night, she would generally only do this if he left her in the house, which wasn't often. The third situation was the most common one. She would find herself locked in the basement or her room, gasping for air and trying to figure out how she could be better the next time.

This time though was too different. She wasn't at her house, she was at Charlie's house and he'd arrested Mark. All things considered, she was fairly certain that she wouldn't be seeing him again any time soon so she didn't need to play her part for him. She didn't need to remind herself of the rules. This time, she was just left with a newly cleaned bedroom, a cop outside the house, and a vampire sitting on her bed.

"Rosalie?" Ember hesitantly asked, frowning a little as she risked a quick glance up at the blonde.

"I heard about what happened to you tonight." The vampire said in answer, her voice soft though no less musical.

"Oh." Ember replied, biting her lip and holding her cup tighter. "Um, Charlie arrested him. What happened wasn't really anything new. It's just...been awhile."

"I was referring to the incident before that," The blonde responded, her voice cautious.

"You mean Port Angeles?" Ember muttered, trying to ignore the sudden shaking in her limbs and the return of the memory of their hands on her that she'd tried to wash off. "Edward told you guys about that?"

"He thought that I might be able to help." Rosalie responded, standing and slowly walking over to her. "Carlisle is waiting outside with him. Just in case you wanted him to look you over."

The thought had her eyes widening while confusing her to no end. Carlisle had come back? To make sure she was okay? People truly were far more different here than she was used to. She decided to ignore the last statement as she crossed the room and set her cup down on the window sill, turning to watch the blonde vampire.

"Why did Edward think that you would be able to help me?" She asked, clasping her hands behind her and leaning back against the windowsill, hoping the cool breeze would help her focus on the conversation rather than straying down darker paths. "I don't understand."

For a moment, she wasn't sure the blonde would answer, but after a beat of silence Rosalie sighed and turned to her. "I went through the same thing on the night I became a vampire."

Ember could only gape at Rosalie at her admittance, horror, sympathy, understanding, and sorrow crashing over her. She knew what it was like afterward. It was violating, painful, and it made everyone and everything into a villain. She hadn't been able to get away from it while sleeping, while at school. And she hadn't been able to tell anyone. To hear about anyone else going through what she did, especially someone like Rosalie was heartbreaking.

"Why did they...?" Ember trailed off, biting her lip. Did it matter why it happened? Who it was? "I'm so sorry."

Rosalie smiled at her, but it was tight and there was a deep sadness behind it. "I got my revenge."

"Did it make it better?" Ember asked, her words coming out before she had a chance to register what she was asking.

Of course, she'd thought of it before. What it would be like to get back at the ones who had made her suffer that way. How could she not? She would feel safer, she'd imagine, knowing that those men would never hurt her again. There'd been one point in her life where she'd considered what it would be like to remove her father from the picture. He was the root of her pain just as much as she was or as much as she'd thought she was. The longer she was in Forks, the more she began to realize how much he was a part of her suffering. That was why she'd been able to bring herself to call out earlier and while she'd paid for it, she'd also survived and was still in the place she felt safe. With the people who made her feel safe, despite her own deeply embedded mistrust.

"For a little while, but in the end...I just filled one hole and made another." Rosalie answered, her eyes sharp on Ember. "I don't regret it, but I'm not better for it either."

Ember couldn't help but frown at that. Would she be able to say the same if she got her revenge? Would she even be capable of ending someone's life? She wasn't sure. Honestly, she didn't think anyone could be sure until they were in the moment, when they were about to pull the trigger. "So, if you could go back, if you could do it over...would you change it?"

"Probably not." Rosalie replied, turning away. "Do you want revenge, Ember?"

"What if I told you I'd thought about it before?" Ember wondered, breath held at the response she might get. Would that be the moment that Rosalie saw her for what she was? When the blonde knew that Ember had no good in her? Certainly, people who considered murder couldn't be good. Could they?

"I would think you were sane and human. That it doesn't make you a bad person."

There was no trace of doubt or uncertainty or pause in the blonde's answer. Could she truly have that much faith in her? At the thought, Ember couldn't hold the tears back anymore and soon she was choking on her sobs while being held in a pair of cold arms.

~10~

Ember moaned softly as she rolled over, slowly opening her eyes and trying to ignore the aches and pains reverberating through her entire being. After letting her body adjust, she frowned. She didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was Rosalie comforting her as she cried. The blonde must have tucked her into bed, she realized, flustered by the idea. The Cullens truly were too nice to her.

Rolling her head over to see Bella's clock, she sighed when she saw that it was already seven thirty in the morning, meaning she was going to be late to school. Her aches and pains grew as she pulled herself from the land of unconsciousness, the pain making her mind sharp and yet sluggish at the same time as it drew all of her attention.

Her chest burned where Mark had pinned her with his foot and she was sure it would be a giant bruise, her throat was sore, her eyes hurt from all the crying along with her head, her limbs were sore from struggling against the men in Port Angeles - she was sure she had several bruises and a couple of bite marks from them - and her right shoulder was a throbbing flame.

Deciding that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep, she dragged herself out from under the covers, for once too exhausted and hurt to really think much on the fact that it was Bella's bed. She headed over to her suitcase that she had yet to unpack and rummaged around for a pair of white leggings and a nice black sweater that fell down to her knees and was a size too big for her.

Ember sucked in a sharp breath as she pushed up off the floor, stumbling a little as she righted her balance and waiting for the aches to subside a little before moving to the bathroom to change into her new outfit. She forgo taking a shower that morning and simply washed her face and brushed her hair, leaving it to fall down her back.

Sighing, she set the brush down and tried to ignore the emotions that were starting to hit her now that she was actually awake. Terror, anxiety and worry all rolled up into a ball to make her feel as though she were going to throw up.

Mark was there. In Forks and not New York. She'd thought she'd managed to escape him. Not only that, but the men from last night were still out there. They could still hurt someone, probably had if she were honest with herself. Those kinds of people didn't suffer defeat well nor did they stay down for long. Swallowing back her nausea, she pushed all of those thoughts from her mind, went back into Bella's room and snatched her bag off of the ground.

She paused on her way out, noticing the jacket Edward had let her use the night before. Part of her wanted to keep, though she wasn't entirely sure why, but the more reasonable side of her knew she should probably return it. Things didn't usually go too well, when she forgot such things for too long. So with a bit of reluctance, Ember went and collected up Edward's jacket, throwing it on for convenience - yes, that was the only reason - before hurrying down the stairs.

There was no sign of Charlie and for a moment Ember lingered by the kitchen door, debating on just staying home. In his note last night, Charlie had sort of made it clear that he wanted her to go to school, but she wasn't sure how she was going to deal with everything. And what would Edward think? Surely, he'd heard her conversation with Rosalie the night before. How would he react?

Her throat closed as the panic began to set in and she stumbled back to lean against the counter, letting her bag fall to the ground. She couldn't get enough air. This was something she'd expected, but no matter how much she expected a panic attack, she was never able to handle it better. After Mark had invited the men who had defiled her for the first time, she'd had her first panic attack. That time she'd expected the numbness to come and that had been the first time she'd longed for it. Panic attacks made her feel like she was trapped between living and dying. It was terrifying, like her body was working against her. Like it wasn't her own anymore and the entire world was against her. Those were the times that she felt the most lonely as if nothing would ever be alright.

A loud knock cut through the panic enough for her to pull in a gasping breath which was soon followed by a wave of calm. Taking a few more deep breaths, she slowly pushed away from the counter, registering that the knock had come from the front door. Grabbing her bag from the floor, she crept to the front hallway, biting her lip. Who would be knocking at the door right now? Was it the officer Charlie had left to watch her last night?

Frowning, she quietly moved forward and pushed herself onto the balls of her feet to peer through the peephole. She found herself blinking at Alice who stood beside Jasper. What were they doing here? Alice waved, grinning a little though it wasn't as bright as Ember was used to seeing.

Confused, Ember dropped back down, unlocked the door and pulled it open. She didn't even get a chance to speak before Alice's arms were around her. "I am so sorry."

"For what?" Ember wondered, trying to relax as she adjusted to Alice's arms around her though not able to bring herself to return the embrace. "Why are you here?"

"I saw what happened last night, but it was too late." Alice continued, pulling back and holding her out at arms length. "If Edward hadn't gotten there…Are you sure you don't want Carlisle to look you over?"

Realization hit Ember like a smack in the face. All of the Cullens knew now, enough so that she had Alice showing up on her doorstep. What if it spread further? What if people at school found out? Surely, Bella would've heard from Charlie or she'd at least wonder about the officer outside. And the arrests were put in the papers, weren't they? She could feel Jasper trying to calm her, but as the world tilted around her, the calm he sent her way just seemed to get further and further away. Everyone was going to know about Mark. Maybe not the specifics but they'd know enough. And the Cullens all also knew what those men had done to her.

Absently, Ember registered that Alice was beginning to get frantic and the two vampires had moved further into the house, pushing her to sit on the couch. She was spiraling again as she sat there. Fear and dread and panic making a nauseating concoction of emotions that made her stomach twist violently.

A hand landed on her shoulder and the calm was able to reach her enough for her to realize that Alice had pulled out her phone and was now speaking rapidly into it, too fast for her to catch what was said, meaning it had to be one of the Cullens she was calling. Jasper had laid a hand on her shoulder to help calm her. The world was still tilting and her stomach was still twisting.

"I'm going to be sick."

And with that, she lurched off of the couch and just barely managed to make it to the kitchen where she promptly threw up in the sink, bile and stomach acid forcing itself up her throat. Cool hands were suddenly there, pulling her hair away from her face and holding it back as she emptied out whatever had been in her stomach, which had been very little if anything.

When she was finished, she turned the water on and cupped her hands to catch water and rinse her mouth out.

"Thanks," she murmured, turning to see who had helped her and hoping they didn't notice her embarrassment. But after what they knew, what could really be worse? Did she really think that them seeing her throw up was the worst thing happening in her situation?

Alice watched her, her eyebrows pinched and a frown tilting her lips downwards. "Of course. Are you sure you want to go to school today?"

"I have to." She answered, hesitantly. "If I stay here, I'll likely just be panicking all day. Plus, I think Charlie wants me to go."

"We can stay with you if you want," Alice offered, biting her lip and fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Ember frowned at the pixie like vampire. Was she nervous? It was strange to see as the girl had always seemed quite confident to her in the past.

"That's fine," she answered, glancing over as Jasper leaned against the arch between the kitchen and living room, his abilities finally able to reach her and calm her chaotic feelings. She sighed as she relaxed, the tension rolling off of her. "Thanks, Jasper. For all the other times as well." He nodded and offered her a small smile, offering Alice her phone which she took. She turned back to Alice. "Who did you call?"

"Carlisle," she answered, looking guilty. "I was worried."

"He heard what happened through the phone. If you feel you need to go see him, we can give you a ride." Jasper spoke up, watching her carefully.

"No, that's okay. I'm fine now." She answered, the idea of going to see Carlisle nearly overriding Jasper's influence. If she went to see a doctor about what happened last night, then there would be no chance of ignoring it all. "I just want to go to school."

And part of her wanted to see Edward, though she wouldn't admit it out loud. Before Alice or Jasper could say anything else, she snatched up her bag, grabbed a mint and hurried out the front door, waving at the officer across the street who nodded back in return before starting his car and heading home to get some sleep after staying up all night to keep an eye on her. Charlie had probably told him that he could leave when she left to go to school, which was just another reason that she could feel good about actually going. If she hadn't he probably would've wound up staying until Charlie got back or having to actually come check on her.

The day was cold and foggy. Overcast. Meaning it was likely to rain. She'd already figured that the Cullens would be in school as Alice and Jasper were out and about. The thought alone was strangely calming. She supposed it was because they were the ones she could trust the most. Out of everyone else, they'd been there the most, every time she needed them. And not just Edward - the thought of which had a small thrill racing through her - but the others as well. Esme had helped her when she got lost, Jasper had constantly helped her calm down when she needed it, Emmett had already played bodyguard with Jasper once, Carlisle had patched her up, and Rosalie had comforted her last night when she had really needed it.

She continued forward, Jasper and Alice easily having caught up and walking beside her, only to hesitantly stop when she noticed the silver car in the driveway. Though, she supposed it made sense. They had to have gotten there somehow and they'd mentioned giving her a ride.

Her heart skipped a beat as Edward suddenly materialized in front of her, pulling the passenger door open. "Do you want to ride with me today?"

His eyes sparkled with amusement and wariness as she watched him. His voice was uncertain. It was her choice, she realized. He was actually leaving the decision up to her. It was such an unusual offer for her that she had to take a moment more to process it. She wanted to ride with him, of course she did and it would admittedly keep her from being late to school, but she didn't want to cause him or the two vampires beside her to be uncomfortable. She also wasn't sure how she would react, sitting so close to him. But the night before, he'd kept her sane and together after the fact.

"Sure, thanks," She murmured, offering a cautious smile before stepping into the warm car. The door shut behind her and then Edward was suddenly sitting beside her and starting the car up.

Alice moved to lean into the passenger's side, still seeming nervous. "We'll see you at school, Ember."

"You aren't riding with us?" She wondered, instantly feeling guilty. She didn't want them to think that they had to split every time she was near. Or maybe they just didn't want to be around her too long. She was sure the emotional stress was hard on Jasper, not to mention the bloodlust.

"We just wanted to check on you. We still have a few things to get from the house, but we'll see you at school." Alice answered, grinning before linking arms with Jasper and then just simply disappearing with him. Ember couldn't help but frown, slowly buckling up as Edward pulled out of the driveway.

"I brought your jacket back," she started, moving to shrug out of it.

"It's fine." He answered, glancing over. "You don't have a jacket this morning, so keep it."

"Won't you need it?" Ember wondered and glanced over at him, taking in the fact that he himself wore no jacket, just a light grey V-necked shirt with long sleeves. Then again, he wouldn't need it for anything but appearances, though she herself knew how important those were.

"I thought you already knew about vampires," he responded, smirking over at her though she could see that there was a hesitancy to it.

"Well, I do, sort of, but you still need to appear that you get cold. Just like anyone else would." She murmured, pulling the jacket back on over her sweater. "I know what it's like to keep up appearances."

"I should be fine for one day." He answered, his voice tight and the enthusiasm in his eyes a little more forced than it had been. She nodded, wishing she hadn't mentioned it.

"Thank you," she suddenly said, not wanting the silence to drag on too long. "For sending Rosalie last night." He looked over at her and she quickly glanced down to stare at her hands in her lap. "For everything."

"It was no problem, Ember." He answered, his voice soft. His face was unreadable as they entered the lot and she suddenly remembered that his car was usually full with others besides just the two that had shown up at her - Charlie's house. .

"Where are the others? Besides Alice and Jasper?" She wondered, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Rosalie drove her car," he answered, sliding into the spot next to a glossy red convertible. "Ostentatious, isn't it?"

Ember didn't respond, bile rising in her as she recognized the car to be almost the exact same as Mark's had been. The one that he thought she'd ruined the day before she woke up in Forks, the one he'd nearly killed her over. The reminder had all of her emotions from earlier rushing back and it took her a moment to realize that Edward was watching her with concern.

"I'm fine." She murmured to ease his concern, shaking herself from those thoughts and looking forward through the windshield. "Just...I'm fine."

She grabbed her bag and climbed out of the car. She wasn't late anymore, Edward's speed preferences having gotten her there in plenty of time. Edward met her in the front of the car a moment later, his brows furrowed in concern as he glanced back over at Rosalie's car. He stayed close to her side as they walked onto campus and she was surprised at the urge to reach over and touch him, closing the distance between them.

She couldn't say it was something she had with many people or any really. Usually touching involved pain and she avoided that as much as possible. Especially after what happened the night before, it didn't make much sense to her.

Wanting to distract herself before she went too far down that road of thought, she turned to Edward. "Why did they take her car at all? They didn't have to leave just because of me. I don't mind sharing."

"Hadn't you noticed?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, though she wasn't sure if his lightness was still forced or not. "I'm breaking ALL the rules now."

"Still," Ember murmured, turning away to cast her eyes around the parking lot.

Bella stood by Jessica under the protection of the cafeteria's overhang and as Ember approached, Edward by her side, Jessica's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. Ember was nervous as she walked over to Bella, not sure what Charlie may have said to her or not.

"Hey, Em." Bella greeted, forcing a smile, probably for Jessica's benefit, and not noticing Ember's wince at the nickname. She didn't think she'd ever be comfortable with the nickname, but so far she wasn't comfortable correcting the brunette yet. "Charlie called me about last night." She glanced over at Jessica. "He was worried you might not be able to get the truck started. I honestly wasn't sure if you were going to come to school today."

Translation: Charlie told me about what happened with Mark and I'm checking in on you. Whether or not the brunette was checking on her to make sure she was okay or make sure no details were leaked, she wasn't sure. Regardless, the idea of someone else knowing even the slightest bit of what she'd been through was enough to get her heart pounding in her chest again and cause the world to start tilting.

Bella's eyes kept shooting between Ember and Edward, not seeming to notice the inner turmoil she was having, though Ember was sure Edward could hear her heart. Jessica seemed to have turned into a statue at this point. The title to the sculpture would probably be 'deer in the headlights'.

"Thanks," Ember answered, her voice a little strained as she tried to focus on the conversation. "I hope I didn't disrupt your time with Angela."

"It's all good." Bella answered, waving her off with a hand before she glanced at Edward again. "I'm glad to see you managed to find a ride."

Ember glanced over at Edward before turning back to Bella, her heart picking up even more. She hadn't thought that was possible. Was Bella upset with her? Was she not supposed to have ridden with Edward? Was she going to be jealous as all the other girls in school seemed to be?

"Good morning, Jessica," Edward greeted, nodding towards the girl in question. "Bella. Ember asked me for a ride last night as she knew you were going to be at a friend's house. I hope it's alright."

Ember looked over at him with wide eyes. She hadn't done that, had she? Well, she supposed technically she had, so he wasn't lying exactly. The random tangent of thought helped her to calm herself again and she was able to focus on the conversation as Bella spoke.

"Oh." Bella responded, seeming surprised but turning to Ember with a conspiratorial smile. "I see. Well, I'll leave you to it then. See you in class, Em."

"Sure." Ember answered, sounding uncertain even to her own ears. "See you then."

And with that, Bella grabbed Jessica's hand and dragged her off, Ember watching after them."What are you gonna tell her?" Edward murmured.

"What do you mean?" Ember wondered, turning to the vampire beside her. "Tell who? About what?"

He tilted his head with a frown. "Bella's waiting to ambush you after class. She's curious. About us."

At that information, Ember blinked in surprise. Edward could hear Bella? Wow, she really had changed events. And why would Bella want to ambush her in class? She hadn't done anything wrong lately. Did the brunette maybe find out about Ember sleeping in her bed and have an issue with it? The thought had her looking after Bella with worry, her heart speeding up in her chest. But then why did she let her sleep there all those other times?

A wave of calm cascaded over her almost as fast as the panic had set in and she glanced back to see the other Cullens approaching. She shot Jasper a thankful smile before turning to Edward, nodding towards where Bella and Jessica had gone. "So what does she want from me? Did I do something wrong?"

"She just has a couple of questions," He answered, his eyes narrowing on her. "Are you afraid of her?"

She sighed, not sure how to answer the question. Well, she supposed at this point, there weren't really any secrets between them anymore. Apart from one.

"Not exactly," she answered, biting her lip and looking down at her feet, fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket. "...She makes me nervous. I never know what to expect. One minute she's being nice and the next it seems like she's upset with me. In my experience, when people get upset, I either get out of the way or get hurt. Usually the latter." She glanced up to see his mood had now completely dropped. Sorrow filled her as she realized it was her fault. "But, anyway, what do she want to know?"

"That's cheating, but I'll humor you." he answered, letting the other subject drop for now, though she was sure he wasn't going to ignore it forever. Or maybe he would. There was just no way for her to tell for sure.

She just stared at him, waiting and curious. He seemed to deliberate for a moment as they walked. They stopped outside the door of her first class and she briefly wondered how he knew her schedule.

"She wants to know if we're secretly dating." He said slowly. "And how you feel about me. She's happy to see what she observes as progress."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. That was it, huh? Talk about being nosy while applying a lot of pressure. "So, what should I say?"

WERE they dating? Was that what they had? The thought had her strangely happy inside. People passed by, going into the classroom and staring, but she did her best to ignore them.

"Hmm." He paused to catch a strand of her hair and tuck it behind her ear. She immediately tensed as her heart spluttered and a shiver ran down her spine. "I suppose you could say yes to the first...if you don't mind-it's easier than any other explanation. If you're okay with it, of course."

Ember felt her heart skip a beat at his words. Did that mean he wanted to date her? That he wasn't entirely abhorred by the idea? Did she like that idea for herself? Was she ready for something like that? And what did he mean it was easier than any other explanation? Was that the only reason he would be okay with it?

"Alright," she murmured, biting her lip and still puzzling over his words. "I don't mind that."

"As for the other question," One side of his mouth pulled up into a crooked grin that did interesting things to her stomach. It felt like her insides were on a roller coaster. Was she sick? Or was her nausea from earlier coming back? "...well, I'll be listening to hear the answer to that one myself."

And before she could respond, he'd turned and hurried off. Meanwhile, she was still puzzling over his earlier response.

"See you at lunch," he called over his shoulder and she nodded absently, ignoring the three people frozen in the doorway staring at her. Frowning to herself, she slowly walked into the class, settling down into her seat and setting her bag down. Bella sat beside her, Mike striking up a conversation with her, but Ember couldn't find it in herself to pay much mind to the two of them, especially if Bella truly did want to question her later about Edward and her.

Her lips tugged up into a small smile at that thought. Edward and her. It was something she'd dreamed about before as a fantasy and something she'd thought she would be forced to watch happen with someone else when she realized she was actually in Twilight, but now...He'd said she could tell people that they were dating. Though she'd have to build up the courage later to get him to explain it more, for now it was enough to keep her afloat.

Whenever thoughts of the night before tried to overwhelm her, she'd just focus on how she felt about what Edward had said. Yes, she did want to be able to say they were dating. Or most of her did anyway. But she couldn't help but be nervous. What would that entail? Would people treat her even worse? Though, she supposed that didn't exactly matter, since so far she'd already lived through worse. Last night was a testament to that.

She quickly shrunk away from those thoughts, turning them instead to the strange flutter that her stomach did every time she thought of Edward. Was that normal? She didn't think it was her being sick since it only happened when she thought of Edward. He'd startled her earlier when he brushed her hair back, no one had ever done that and certainly not as gently as he had. And he'd been there for her. More than anyone else ever had been. She supposed if it was him, it couldn't be too bad. Right?

Mr. Mason called the class to order then, asking them to turn their papers in. Ember froze, her heart dropping and her blood freezing. She'd forgotten to do the paper! She'd started it, but she didn't think that would qualify for a good score. But it would be better than a zero. What would Charlie say? Would it be like when she got a bad grade at Mark's? The thought almost had another panic attack coming on and struggling to ignore the symptoms, Ember quickly searched through her bag for the assignment. What she found was so startling that she just stopped for a moment, eyes skating over the paper in front of her.

It was her assignment. Sort of.

The only difference was it was a finished assignment, but she was fairly certain that she hadn't finished it. So who did? Her eyes snapped towards the classroom door. Had Edward finished her assignment for her? When had he had the chance? How would he even know she hadn't done it? Frowning, she moved to put it back in her bag, only to have the teacher take it from her hand as she passed. Frantic, Ember turned back to the teacher as he passed. She couldn't submit and assignment she didn't finish herself! But, alas, it was too late.

What if she were caught? She was certain Charlie wouldn't be okay if he thought she was having someone else do her homework and it would only feed Bella's ideas that Ember was only playing the part of the victim. Frustrated and deciding she already had plenty on her mind, Ember just shook her head. Whatever. It was one paper. She could easily play that off as a mistake if necessary, right? She hoped so.

English and then Government passed in a blur as she worried about the paper and what might happen when she spoke with Bella. Luckily, it kept her mind off other things that she didn't really want to think about. It wasn't until she walked into Trig that it fully dawned on her that Edward had said he was going to listen in. Why would he do that? What if she did things wrong? What if he was unhappy with her responses?

Biting her lip, Ember went to sit beside Bella, who moved her backpack from the chair beside her, having obviously saved it for her. She absently noted that they had a substitute that day. Now what? Did she just wait for Bella to drill her with questions? How did things like this usually work? She knew how gossip worked, having had to put on that false face several times, but she'd never done the whole boy talk thing, let alone about a guy she might actually be interested in.

"So, Edward drove you to school," Bella started, saving Ember from her spiraling thoughts.

"Yes," Ember murmured, frowning. That was fairly obvious and she'd always taken Bella to be more intelligent than that. "What about it?"

"What happened last night to warrant that?" She wondered, nudging her shoulder. Ember had to work not to flinch away.

Sifting through her memory, Ember struggled to remember what she'd told Bella about Edward driving her home. Oh, right. "He helped me with my essay and drove me to Charlie's house."

"Our house," Bella corrected and Ember turned to look at her, shocked. Did that mean that she was allowed to refer to it as such? Was Bella actually telling her that it was her home as well or just correcting her on the correct terms to use in public? She really hoped it was the former. "And how did you get home so fast? Charlie said you got there super early."

"There wasn't much traffic. I honestly didn't notice we got back so early. I got distracted." Ember answered, turning to copy the board and hoping it would stop her from dwelling on thoughts about the previous night.

"How long was he there last night?" Bella wondered, her expression softening. "Does he know about…?"

Ember bit her lip. How much should she share? "He left with his parents before things…escalated."

Seeming to sense that Ember didn't want to talk about that subject anymore, Bella continued. "So, was last night a date? Did you tell Edward to meet with you? I thought it was strange you didn't want to go see the water with how excited you were down at La Push."

"No. I wasn't expecting to see him there." Ember responded, frowning to herself. Was that how dates worked? Or would that have been an exception?

"Are you going to see him again?" Bella wondered as Ember continued to scribble out mathematical equations, not entirely paying attention to what she was writing. She would proof read it later. "Is this like a thing now? Are you seeing each other?"

At that, Ember turned to frown at Bella, trying to figure out just what the brunette was asking. Well, she would start with the easiest question first. "He offered to drive me to Seattle Saturday. It didn't sound like he was talking about a date. He just said your truck wouldn't make it and he didn't want me walking. Does that count?"

Bella frowned, nodding a little. "Sort of."

"Okay, then I guess I'm sort of going to see him again outside of school." Ember answered, still a little confused on the complexities of dating.

"Has he kissed you?" A voice piped up from behind them. Ember whirled around to see Jessica sitting behind her. She was practically falling out of her seat to listen, her expression carefully arranged to display only excited curiosity.

"No." Ember answered, turning back to her work. "I don't think it's like that."

She knew that kissing was eventually an aspect of dating, but she still wasn't sure if that's what she was even doing with Edward. All she knew was that he said it was the easiest explanation. Besides, she wasn't even sure if she wanted him to kiss her. Or how she'd react if he did. Though, the thought made her stomach flutter again and she was definitely curious what it would be like to kiss him.

"Do you think Saturday….?" Bella wondered and Ember closed her eyes for a moment. She was beginning to get frustrated and she wasn't even sure why.

"I seriously doubt it." Ember answered.

"What did you talk about?" Jessica pushed in a whisper. The substitute wasn't paying close attention as he wrote equations on the board. They weren't the only ones still talking either.

"Lots of stuff," Ember responded, pressing a little too hard into the paper with her pencil. Did she have to keep answering the girl behind her? Jessica was Bella's friend and she still wasn't sure what her relationship with Bella was. Ember cared about the girl, but her experience with family was that they were always above her and they got to decide what she did, who she did it with and everything else under the sun.

Was that why Bella wanted to speak with her? Was she not supposed to be hanging out with Edward or the Cullens? Did Bella want her to stop? It hurt to think about. She didn't want to stop seeing the Cullens. So far they were the only people she'd ever felt completely safe with.

"Please, Ember, give me some details!" Jessica begged.

"I don't know what you want to know," Ember answered, nearly snapping at the girl as she turned around to face her. "He helped me with my essay and drove me home."

"I want to know why you're holding back," She answered, leaning forward. "He's unbelievably gorgeous. There is no way that is all that happened with him last night!"

"Jess…" Bella hesitantly murmured, frowning at Ember who at this point was slightly shaking. "Maybe back off a little."

"Don't tell me you're not curious, Bella." Jessica continued, scoffing a little. "I mean, there is a million things I would do to that boy if I could just get an hour alone with him. You seriously believe there wasn't even a kiss?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe." Bella answered, glancing at Ember. Ember frowned at that. Did that mean she didn't believe her? It wasn't exactly a yes or a no.

"You do." Jessica continued, her lips turning up into a smirk. "You believe nothing happened because there's no way he could be that into her."

"I didn't say that." Bella protested, but Ember didn't miss the flash of guilt on the brunette's face.

"It's fine, Bella," Ember cut in, shocking Jessica quiet. It seemed the girl had actually forgotten that Ember was there. "It's probably true anyways."

Bella looked like she was going to say something else but was called up to solve an equation on the board. She shot Jessica a look that Ember wasn't entirely able to decipher before heading up.

"So you don't think he likes you?" Jessica continued, no longer even trying to sound nice about it. "As in, he's still available?"

Ember couldn't for sure say that he liked her and she couldn't for sure say he didn't. "Just stop."

"If he doesn't like you, then why is he hanging out with you so much?" Jessica demanded.

"I don't know." Ember muttered, trying desperately to focus on her work, but failing. She wanted Edward to like her even if she wasn't sure she was ready to date, she wanted to feel like any other girl. She wanted to have someone she was sure would care for her no matter what. Someone she wouldn't have to walk on eggshells around or constantly fear punishment from, someone she could trust enough to just be herself with. And that was why she was getting so frustrated with Jessica and Bella's questioning, she realized. Because she knew it was something she couldn't possibly ever have. She was beyond repair.

"Obviously, you like him." Jessica continued, oblivious to the damage her words were doing. Or maybe she wasn't. Ember wasn't entirely sure when it came to her. "What girl doesn't? But you're seriously saying he hasn't kissed you or anything? The one girl he's paid any attention to in all the time he's been here?"

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you," Ember answered, fighting tears as she again tried to focus on the equations in front of her. "Because it's the truth."

"So, are you a virgin then?" Jessica continued to prod, leaning forward more and continuously glancing up at Bella who seemed to be a little stuck on her problem.

The question hit Ember hard. It was something she'd tried very hard not to think about after Mark had brought those men to the apartment. It seemed small, until it wasn't. No, she wasn't a virgin. Because it'd been taken from her. One minute she'd had it and the next it was just gone. And it hadn't just been one person, it'd been several. She'd never wanted to speculate on the connotations of it.

Jessica seemed to get more excited as Ember didn't respond. "You aren't, are you? Give me the details. Who was it? Was it Edward? No, it couldn't be. You'd be bragging about it by now, I'm sure." Jessica paused before a mean grin split her face. "That means it was someone else. That's why you don't want to say anything, isn't it? Because you know that he probably won't want anything to do with you. You're damaged goods. He seems like the type to wait for marriage. Why else wouldn't he want to date?"

"Jessica, just stop it. Please." Ember practically pleaded, managing to get the words out without her voice breaking, though she felt like she was breaking on the inside.

Those were all points she'd tried very hard not to think about. Especially now that she almost had the one thing she'd truly wanted within reach and yet she knew it would never be hers. The thought was almost enough to break her control over herself and she quickly wiped away the stray tear that fell down her cheek.

"He definitely won't want anything to do with you when he realizes that you're just another slut. No matter what face you put on." Jessica continued mercilessly, grinning even wider.

And there it was. Out in the open. She was a slut. It was one of the things she'd never wanted to admit to herself, but it was true. And now that Jessica knew, Ember was sure the rest of the class would know soon as well. What would the Cullens think? They'd abandon her for sure. And Edward…he was listening right now. If he hadn't put it together before, he certainly had now. And Jessica was right, he would want nothing to do with her in the regards of dating or being anything more than whatever it was they were at the moment. The thought had the tears falling, though she kept her mouth clenched tight to hold in the sobs that wanted to escape.

"So even if you are dating, it won't be for long." Jessica continued, glancing at the board as Bella finally began to make her way back to them. "Not after he finds out."

Bella sat down and immediately took notice of Ember's state. "Em, what happened?"

"Don't call me that!" Ember snapped out before she could reign herself in. Bella looked shocked and turned to Jessica who merely shrugged. The anger instantly fizzled out as she realized what she'd just done. "I'm sorry."

And she was. She was sorry for everything. She was sorry that she was no good to anyone, that she couldn't control herself the way she should, that just her presence hurt people. And she was sorry that she didn't know how to fix it and still be happy herself.

"It's okay, Em…ber." Bella answered after a moment. "I didn't know that it bothered you."

"No, it's fine." Ember corrected herself, her voice breaking at the end. "Call me whatever you want to."

She tried in vain to pull herself together for the rest of the period, but every time she was close to managing it, Jessica's words swam through her head and started the tears all anew. For the most part, she just kept her head down, letting her hair shield her face from view. By the end of the period, she was sure she would have to redo all of her trig work as her tears had made the graphite smudge and most of it was unreadable. By the end of Fourth period she'd cried all of her tears and her headache had grown with a vengeance.

Ember slowly filed out of the classroom behind everyone, surprised to find Edward leaning against the wall and waiting for, presumably, her. Was he there to tell her to leave him and his family alone? Did he even care about what Jessica had to say? She shook her head at that. Of course he cared! How could he not? That was almost enough to bring the tears back, though thankfully Edward spoke and drew her attention away from her thoughts.

"Hello," His voice was careful and gentle. He'd definitely been listening, though it still wasn't clear if he was just going to let her down gently or tell her to take a hike.

"Hey," She answered, her voice breaking a little. She wasn't sure what else to say. It wasn't normal for her to have such conversations with people. Generally, they decided she was horrible, told her so, and left her or decided to torture her for it.

Edward didn't say anything either, so the walk to the cafeteria was silent. When they entered, it felt like the entire cafeteria turned to stare at them at the same time. Ember sighed and glanced down, fighting back tears again. She was sure they all knew by now. How could they not?

A wave of calm rolled over her and her head snapped up to find the Cullens table. She was a little shocked to find that they were all watching her as well, their expressions full of what she thought was concern. So they didn't know then? They must have heard everyone else talking about it.

Ember followed Edward into the line, not really paying much attention to anything but him. Or trying not to anyway. She could still feel the stares burning into her back, still hear the voices she was sure were damning her in some way. Edward kept shooting quick glances at her, his expression speculative and something else. She thought it might be uncertainty.

Patiently, she waited for him to pay for the food he'd piled onto his tray, dreading the conversation she was sure they would have. Was that the last time she was going to see him? She was thankful for Jasper. He kept sending her enough calm that she didn't have a meltdown right there and then. He was probably the only reason.

Edward led her to the table they'd sat at before, ignoring or oblivious to the table next to them blatantly staring. Ember, however was not and quickly dropped her head as she sat down in the chair, holding her bag in her lap and fiddling with the sleeves of Edward's jacket. She absently wondered if he would notice it missing if she decided to keep it. If it was the last time she'd see him, she wanted something to remind her later.

"Take whatever you want," he said, pushing his tray towards her.

She startled, looking up at him, wide-eyed with surprise. He'd gotten it for her? So did that mean that he wasn't telling her goodbye? That he didn't care about what Jessica had said?

"I'm not that hungry," she said quietly. Well, she was, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep any of it down. It wasn't going to help her at school if she threw up all over the table and Edward Cullen in the middle of lunch.

"You're eating habits are atrocious, you know." He said, his tone carefully neutral.

She just glanced down at her lap, not sure what to say. When she looked back up, he was glaring at something over her shoulder. The fury in his gaze froze her for a moment, her heart skipping a beat before she was able to turn to see what had him so upset. Jessica was sitting at a table a ways behind them, giggling with Lauren and a few other girls. Ember quickly turned away as they pointed over at her, tears pricking behind her eyes. She could probably guess what they were talking about.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," she murmured, moving to grab her bag and leave.

"Don't leave." Edward pleaded, his eyes concerned when she turned to him. "Please, don't leave. Not until you hear what I have to say."

Ember was still very tempted to leave. It might be easier on her. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he was going to say to her, not if it was going to hurt more than her deciding to leave on her own. But then again, she would always be wondering then wouldn't she.

She nodded and settled back in her chair, looking down at her hands in her lap. "If you're going to tell me to leave you and your family alone, then just tell me. Please."

Edward was silent for a moment, but Ember refused to meet his eyes. "What makes you think I would ask that of you?"

"You heard what Jessica said." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, I did." Edward answered, frowning in puzzlement.

"That's why." Ember responded, hoping he would understand. That she wasn't going to have to explain it all and actually admit it out loud.

"I don't understand." He admitted, seeming guilty that he didn't. "Why would I want you to leave because of that?"

Ember was quiet for a moment, having to take a deep breath to steel herself. "What she said is true, Edward. Technically, as my parent and legal guardian, Mark was able to give consent for me. Meaning, technically, everything that those men did, they did with consent. So what Jessica said is true. I'm a slut."

Just saying it out loud was almost enough to have her break again. For a moment Ember felt bad for Jasper who must have been working double time to try and help her keep herself standing instead of collapsing to the ground in a ball of misery.

A loud crack echoed throughout the cafeteria and Ember was sure she wasn't the only one who startled. The entire room fell silent as everyone tried to figure out what had made the sound. They didn't have to wonder for long as Rosalie stood from her table across the room and swiftly began to cross the cafeteria. Ember couldn't help the flash of fear as Rosalie stormed towards her, her face contorted with fury. What had she done wrong?

But the blonde continued past Ember and Edward, stopping and planting her hands on Jessica's table. "You need to stop it."

"Rosalie, h-hi." Jessica stuttered, offering a nervous grin as she suddenly had the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. "Stop what?"

"You're being shallow and mean and you need to back off. Everything you're saying and spreading around about Ember is false. Just rumors and gossip." Rosalie spat, glaring furiously. Jessica actually shrunk away from her. "If you don't stop, than you'll find out how much of a bitch I can be when you threaten my friends. Do we understand each other?" Jessica simply nodded as the blonde pushed away from the table. "That goes for everyone else too."

Ember could only stare wide-eyed as Rosalie turned and made her way over to her, the cafeteria slowly getting loud again as everyone began discussing what had just happened. Why had the blonde done that? And she classified Ember as her friend? Was that what she meant? It didn't seem like it could possibly be true. Ember had never had any true friends before. This town was truly turning out to be a completely new experience for her.

"I won't stay long," Rosalie told Edward, sitting in a chair beside Ember and turning to the brunette. "But you need to hear something and you need to hear it now. What happened wasn't okay, it isn't your fault, and you most certainly didn't consent to it. You were raped." Ember tried to drop her head down, but Rosalie quickly caught her chin. "No. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but you need to accept that fact if you're ever going to move on."

"Rosalie," Edward growled in warning.

"No, Edward. You asked me to help her and this is the first step." Rosalie cut him off, looking over at Ember, her gaze softening a little. "It's hard, but you need to accept it. You can't change what happened and you can't blame yourself. It will consume you until there's nothing left. You are most certainly not a slut, no matter what anyone might tell you."

"You're wrong." Ember knew she was about to break so before Rosalie could say anything else, she pushed away from the table and hurried out of the room into an empty hallway, not bothering to grab her bag.

She didn't get far before a cool hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her to a stop. Edward gently pulled her around to face him, though she refused to look at him.

"Ember," he murmured, voice velvet soft. "Please look at me."

She shook her head, tears spilling over and down her cheeks for the umpteenth time that day. "No."

"Why not?" She didn't answer, just continued to shake her head. When he spoke next, his voice was almost inaudible. "Do you truly believe that I don't care for you?"

"How could you?" She whispered brokenly, her voice breaking. "I'm nothing. Just some inconvenient little girl who is never going to matter. I'm never going to be like all the other girls. Even if I could be the girl who wants you more than anything. Even if I could trust myself enough to show you everything, it still would never be the way it should be. How could it be?" She felt as though she were going to shatter as soon as he left her there, which was inevitably what was going to happen. He deserved better than someone like her. "Just being near me causes you more problems. You'd always have to pick me up time and time again and I'd still be more broken each time. I get scared every time I make a mistake, no matter how small. And yet I still want to feel like I matter. More than anything. But I don't matter." He was silent as she cried, his eyes troubled. "I'm damaged and I can't promise that I could ever not be. How could someone like you ever want anything to do with someone like me? How could you ever want to touch me in any way at all? It should disgust you to even look at me."

She continued to look down, sobbing quietly and knowing the pain she felt than would be nothing compared to how she would feel in a moment. The silence dragged on, but she refused to break it and refused to look up. If he wanted to leave, she wasn't going to stop him.

Finally he spoke, his tone gentle. "You're wrong."

"How could you possibly know that?" She demanded, finally looking up. His golden eyes were piercing as he watched he. She was scared to believe it, but her heart stuttered painfully and she desperately wanted him to be telling the truth.

"You don't see yourself very clearly," he murmured, raising his hand hesitantly, conflict raging in his eyes before he very carefully and very slowly trailed his fingertips down the length of her cheekbone. Ember startled, but Edward didn't remove his hand, his eyes intent on hers as he continued his path down until his hand gently cupped her jaw. Ember couldn't for the life of her guess at what he would do, but found that she was suddenly nervous and a little terrified, her heart racing in her chest.

He slowly leaned forward until his face was inches from hers, his eyes never straying from hers, seeming to gauge her reaction. Ember for her part found she was having difficulty breathing with him so close, but wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Part of her trembled at the idea of being so close to someone as she was one to usually keep her distance, but the other part was strangely excited though confused.

Just when she thought he was going to close the distance between them, the bell shrilled from behind her, startling her. Edward closed his eyes, his brow furrowing in frustration before he gently placed his forehead against hers, his skin cool against hers.

"Later then," he murmured almost to himself, his breath washing gently over her and her heart still pounding in her ribcage. "Bella wants to speak with you."

Ember was still scrambling to fully grasp what had just happened when his cold, marble lips suddenly pressed very softly to the skin of her right cheek. All thoughts flew out of her head as she tensed beneath his touch, his fingers gently caressing her left cheekbone as he pulled away, watching her with gentle eyes as he wiped the last of her tears away. Her breath left her in a soft exhale, not sure how to feel about everything yet and overwhelmed, she struggled to find the words to say.

"I'll see you in biology," Edward said instead, brushing his fingers across her cheekbone one last time before turning and walking away just as students began to exit the cafeteria.

Ember wasn't entirely sure how to feel about what just happened as she watched Bella walk over to her. But as the brunette walked over to her one thing coalesced to make sense in her mind. Edward cared about her, to some degree anyway. And she cared about him. More than she'd ever cared about anyone before, more than she'd thought was possible. Her affection for him was no longer just a crush, but more. So much more.

 **There you go! A new chapter! :) Yay! Let me know what all of you think. Also, just letting you all know, I know that Ember's thoughts on her father being able to give consent for people to do that for her is not right at all and is not legal. But she doesn't believe that. Just a heads up. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.**


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